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Volumes at brewing giants AB InBev and Carlsberg have declined in the third quarter, with both groups coming in below market expectations.
AB InBev reported a 2.4% drop in volumes in the three months to the end of September, while Carlsberg slipped by 0.2%.
The Stella and Budweiser brewer blamed soft demand in China and Argentina for the decline. China also proved challenging for Carlsberg, but poor weather in Europe, alongside cash-strapped shoppers, hurt the business in the UK and in France.
Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said: “It was a tough quarter, impacted by a challenging consumer environment and weather.”
Organic revenues at Carlsberg increased by 1.3% in the quarter to DKK 20.5bn and the group maintained its guidance for the year.
“As we await the expected closure of the Britvic acquisition in Q1 2025, we’re pleased that our partnership with PepsiCo will expand further with two additional markets coming on board from 2026, indicating the long-term potential in our collaboration,” added Aarup-Andersen.
Group revenues at AB InBev increased by 2.1% in Q3, with a combined jump in sales of 3.1% for its ‘megabrands’, led by Corona.
EBITDA increased by 7.1% thanks to production cost efficiencies and overhead management.
“Beer is a passion point for consumers,” said CEO Michel Doukeris. “Consumer demand for our megabrands and the execution of our mega platforms delivered another quarter of top- and bottom-line growth with margin expansion.
“Our teams and partners continue to execute our strategy and we are confident in our ability to deliver on our raised FY24 EBITDA growth outlook of 6-8%.”
Morning update
Sainsbury’s has sold the Argos Financial Services cards portfolio to NewDay Group for £720m.
The AFS cards support about 20% of Argos’ sales and are held by two-million customers.
Sainsbury’s also formed a partnership with the buyer to create a new Argos-branded digital credit proposition.
The supermarket said it would replace the current Argos card credit propositions with “a wider choice of modern, flexible and more convenient ways for customers to manage the cost of purchases”.
CEO Simon Roberts said: “As we make progress with the plan for ‘Next Level Sainsbury’s’, this is a key milestone in building our future model for financial services.”
Ocado has appointed Adam Warby as non-executive chairman, replacing Rick Haythornthwaite.
Warby will join the board on 1 November and take over as chairman on 1 December.
Ocado said he had “extensive” executive experience in the technology sector and “relevant” chairman experience at a range of international companies.
Warby is currently chairman at Heidrick & Struggles International.
CEO Tim Steiner said Warby joined at “an important moment” in Ocado’s development.
Organic revenues at consumer health giant Haleon have increased 6.1% in the third quarter, driven by 3.3% pricing and 2.8% volume growth.
It’s power brands were up 5.4%, led by Sensodyne, Parodontax, Advil and Theraflu.
The group said growth across all categories and regions reflected “strength of portfolio, supported by innovation and strong in-market execution”.
Haleon remained on track to hit its 4-6% organic growth guidance for the year.
CEO Brian McNamara said: “Third quarter trading was strong with momentum across the business underpinned by the strength of our brand portfolio driving market share gains.”
He added: ” Having achieved organic revenue and organic profit growth of 4.4% and 9.7% respectively year-to-date, we are well on track to deliver our full-year 2024 guidance.”
Coke bottle Coca-Cola HBC has reported “another quarter of strong organic revenue growth” as volumes increased 4%, with all categories contributing and led by coffee.
Organic revenues jumped by 13.9% in Q3 to €3bn, but current headwinds in emerging markets brought this down to 8.9% at a reported level.
CEO Zoran Bogdanovic said: “We are mindful of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges as well as a mixed consumer environment.
“However, reflecting our strong performance in the first nine months and our confidence that we can continue to win in the marketplace, we are updating our guidance for the year.”
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