Anheuseer-Busch InBev reports its revenue eased 3.7% to $46.881 billion in 2020 as Covid-19 took a toll. The company doesn’t report GAAP net profit, but it said “normalized EBITDA” fell 12.9% to $17.321 billion.
Consolidated volumes declined 5.7%, with own beer volumes down 5.8% and non-beer volumes down 3.8%, driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined revenues of ABI’s global brands, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona declined 5.0%globally and 5.3%outside of their respective home markets.
North American volumes held up better than other regions, except for South America, falling 1.4%. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “stay-at-home” orders and other social distancing measures were implemented in the United States beginning in the middle of March 2020.
ABI said it has observed a gradual reopening of the on-premise channel, though the pace has been varied and there have been additional restrictions enforced as the year progressed.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, the industry was impacted by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding restrictions to the on-premise channel. North American sales-to-retailers (“STRs”) declined 0.2%in 2020, slightly below an industry that declined by 0.1%. This resulted in an estimated market share loss of 5 bps, but ABI’s above core portfolio gained an estimated 110 bps and our mainstream brands lost an estimated 115 bps.
Sales-to-wholesalers (“STWs”) declined by 1.7%. Our above core portfolio continued to outperform, driven by the ongoing momentum of Michelob Ultra and successful innovations such as Bud Light Seltzer. Michelob Ultra was once again the second-highest selling beer by value in the United States, after Bud Light, and was the No. 1 share gainer in beer excluding flavored malt beverages in 2020, according to IRI.
In addition, ABI said its portfolio of seltzers grew at double the rate of the industry, driven by a successful launch of Bud Light Seltzer. Continued execution of our commercial strategy has also resulted in flat share of mainstream segment in 2020.