Advertisement
UK markets open in 6 hours 9 minutes
  • NIKKEI 225

    39,880.07
    +296.99 (+0.75%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    17,718.61
    +2.11 (+0.01%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    81.72
    +0.18 (+0.22%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,334.70
    -4.90 (-0.21%)
     
  • DOW

    39,118.86
    -45.24 (-0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    49,606.70
    +1,440.12 (+2.99%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,298.44
    +14.61 (+1.14%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    17,732.60
    -126.10 (-0.71%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,451.92
    -8.35 (-0.19%)
     

UPDATE 3-Ambev's first-quarter profit beats estimates as Brazilian home market does well

(Adds analyst comment in paragraph 5 and 6)

By Natalia Siniawski

May 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian brewer Ambev SA posted a small decline in net profit for the first quarter but the result handily beat expectations on a positive performance in its home market.

In Brazil, volumes grew by 3.6% benefiting from Carnival festivities with sales led by its Corona, Spaten and Original brands. By contrast, other parts of South America were weaker with sales in Argentina tumbling 19% due to a tough economic environment.

Net profit for the Anheuser-Busch InBev unit fell 0.4% to 3.8 billion reais ($749 million). That compares with an LSEG consensus estimate for a 9.9% decline.

ADVERTISEMENT

Overall sales were flat in volume terms but revenue fell 1.2% to 20.28 billion reais.

Analysts at XP Investimentos said that leading beer volumes in Brazil, "which in the past could have been a catalyst" for the firm, were "not anymore, considering soft international operations and uncertainty on taxes".

These uncertainties could prompt investor caution, the analysts added, saying the results showed a "positive though non-exciting quarter".

Ambev is Brazil's fourth-largest company by market capitalization, behind oil giant Petrobras, miner Vale and lender Itau.

($1 = 5.0744 reais) (Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Chizu Nomiyama)