- Sales in three months to end of December increase 5% to US$2.79bn
- Full-year 2023 up 9.3% at $11.7bn
- 2024 sales expected to grow by low single digits
The Coors Light brand owner said today that sales in the final quarter came in up 5% on the corresponding three months of 2022. While the performance was behind the +11% rate from Q3, sales for the year overall climbed 9.3%, the highest yearly growth rate reported so far by listed multinational alcohol brand owners.
Describing the final three months as having delivered a “strong finish to an incredible year”, the company said it has been “well positioned to benefit from the significant shifts in consumer purchasing habits, largely in the US premium segment”. Indeed last year’s performance topped 2022’s 7% lift in sales as Molson Coors sneaked into the lead for top-line growth by listed brand owners, overtaking previous leader Carlsberg.
In the fourth quarter, the ‘Americas’ reporting region, dominated by the US, was up 4.7% year-on-year thanks to double-digit volumes climbs for Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet in the main market. The trio’s showings were examples of the forementioned claim regarding the purchase behaviour of US consumers within premium beer. Offsetting the US in the Americas, however, was Latin America, where “challenging economic conditions in key markets” pulled quarterly volumes for the group down by 5%.
Over in the combined ‘EMEA&APAC’ (Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia Pacific) region, three-month sales increased by 6.6% thanks to price rises and despite “lower consumption in the UK and inflationary pressures on the consumer in Central and Eastern Europe”.
For the full 12 months of last year, the strength of the earlier months resulted in the ‘Americas’ region coming in up 8.7% in sales terms while ‘EMEA&APAC’ leapt 11.7%.
“Molson Coors achieved volume, share and net sales growth in each of the company’s three largest global markets in 2023,” the company said. “While its core brands were a strong driver, Molson Coors’ above-premium innovations like Simply Spiked and Madri also contributed to these results.”
CEO Gavin Hattersley added: “More than that, last year we achieved the highest reported top and bottom-line figures in the history of our company. We plan to build on this momentum in 2024, with strong commercial plans [and] a powerful and supportive distributor network.”
Looking to 2024 and Molson Coors was more pragmatic, forecasting a “low single-digit” sales lift on last year.
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