- Quarterly sales – to end of March – leap 10.1% to US$2.6bn
- Top line in ‘Americas’ reporting region increases 10.6% to $2.15bn
- Full-year 2024 sales forecast to come in up by low single digits
Having seen its full-year sales in 2023 climb by 9.3%, the North America-focused group today said that its top line was up by a shade over 10% for the three months to the end of March. The quarterly figure eclipsed those for the same period from international brewing peers Heineken (up by 9.4%) and Carlsberg (+6.4%), both of whom reported earlier this month.
Despite recognising a wider “(beer) industry softness in the US and Canada so far this year”, Molson Coors saw a double-digit volumes increase from Coors Light, while the brand’s flagship sibling, Miller Lite, was up by high single digits in volumes terms in the US. The group noted, however, that the Q1 performance was skewed slightly by favourable timings for shipments in its largest market of the US in preparation for the summer selling period.
Elsewhere, ‘above-premium’ beer appears to be doing well in Canada, the company said, although the UK off-premise channel is proving challenging so far this year, Central and Eastern European markets, meanwhile, are displaying “easing inflationary pressures on the consumer”.
“After back-to-back years of delivering on our growth objectives, we continued that momentum in the first quarter of 2024 with double-digit top and bottom-line growth,” said CEO Gavin Hattersley. “We believe our strategy is working and we remain committed to achieving growth in 2024 and in the years to come.”
Looking towards the rest of this year, however, Molson Coors was more cautious, basing its tone on the “early April industry performance” without providing more specific details.
