Molson Coors Beverage Co braced for 2025 declines as Q1 tumbles - results data

Sales from three months to the end of March decline 10.4% to US$2.3bn
Marked deceleration on FY 2024’s -0.6% sales performance
Quarterly volumes down 8%
US sales slump by 15.7%

A fourth consecutive quarter of negative sales has seen Molson Coors Beverage Co warn of troubled times ahead in the rest of this year.

Sales in the three months to the end of March were down by double digits, the group said today (8 May), following on from a disappointing finish to 2024. The 10.4% top-line fall was the result of poor sales in the US, where “industry softness” and the “cycling [of] double-digit growth in our core power brands in the prior year” were blamed.

While both of Molson Coors’ reporting regions registered declines, ‘EMEA & APAC’ was down by just 4.9% on the corresponding period a year ago. While commentary was scant, the group noted a favourable price and sales mix, demonstrated by a near-10% fall in volumes in the region.

More alarming was the performance in the ‘Americas’ region, which was down by 11.5% in sales terms. As well as the weak showing in the US, the “exit of large contract brewing agreements” with Pabst Brewing Co in December was also highlighted as having dragged on sales.

The Q1 numbers have prompted a revision of sales forecasts for the full year, from a previous estimate of low single-digit growth to a low single-digit decline.

“The global macroeconomic environment is volatile,” said CEO Gavin Hattersley, who announced his intention to retire in December last month. “Uncertainty around the effects of geopolitical events and global trade policy, including the impacts on economic growth, consumer confidence and expectations around inflation and currencies has pressured the beer industry and consumption trends.

“We are taking actions to help mitigate the short-term challenges in these uncertain times like reducing non-business critical discretionary spend and capital projects while continuing to support the medium- and long-term health and growth objectives of the company.”

In January, Molson Coors set out a GBP71m (then-US$88m) spend on an 8.5% holding in UK-based mixer producer Fever-Tree. Hattersley today described the transaction as “a significant step forward in our premiumisation initiatives [adding] meaningful scale to our non-alcoholic operations.