Ab Inbev: Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona producer continues to make huge loss despite price rises
The UK arm of Ab Inbev, which brews Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, continued to make a substantial loss during its latest financial year despite raising its prices.
The London-headquartered division not made a pre-tax profit since the £40.9m it reported in 2020.
Since then the business has lost £6.4m in 2021, £89.5m in 2022 and now £72.1m in 2023.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that Ab Inbev’s UK revenue increased from £1.59bn to £1.66bn in 2023.
Ab Inbev battles ‘challenging environment’
A statement signed off by the board said: “The UK economic environment in 2023 posed significant challenges for our business.
“Persistent inflation, driven by high energy and food costs, resulted in volatile input costs, supply chain disruptions and shifting consumer demand as households managed reduced disposable incomes.
“Despite some easing of inflation later in the year, economic uncertainty remained, necessitating agile supply chain management and strategic pricing adjustments.
“As a result of this challenging environment, the beer industry witnessed a downturn compared to 2022, particularly in the off-trade sector, driven by increased consumer prices and government beer duty hikes from August.
“The off-trade sector remained fairly stable, though it continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels.”
The wider Ab Inbev group is headquartered in Belgium and is listed on the Euronext Brussels as well as having secondary listings on the Mexico City Stock Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and New York Stock Exchange.
For the same financial year, the group reported a revenue of $57.78bn (£43.13bn), down from $59.38bn (£44.32bn), while its profit rose from $6.89bn (£5.14bn) to $7.59bn (£5.66bn).
For the first six months of its current financial year, Ab Inbev reported a revenue of $29.88bn (£22.30bn) compared to the $29.33bn (£21.89bn) it posted for the same period in 2023.