Molson Coors TPX-B-T forecast its annual sales above Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as the beer maker expects to benefit from resilient demand and higher pricing of its core brands.
Molson Coors, along with its peers such as Constellation Brands, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Brown-Forman, has been raising prices of its products over the past few quarters to counter rising costs of production, although they have now started to ease from their highs.
CEO Gavin Hattersley said Molson Coors was well positioned to benefit from the significant shifts in consumer purchasing habits, largely in the U.S. premium segment in 2023.
The Chicago, Illinois-based company has seen a transition among higher-income customers to larger 30-pack sizes as they seek more value, while lower-income customers navigated toward smaller single-pack servings or six-pack sizes.
Brand volumes in the Americas segment increased 6.7 per cent, including an 8.5 per cent increase in the U.S. driven by growth in its core brands, with Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet each up double digits, the company said.
Molson expects its 2024 net sales to rise in low single-digit percentage range on a constant currency basis, compared with LSEG expectations of a 0.70 per cent increase.
The company’s net sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 came in at $2.79-billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.77-billion.
It reported quarterly profit of $0.48 per share against a loss of $2.73 per share a year ago, which was primarily driven by an impairment charge of $692-million.
Shares of the company, which gained about 19 per cent in 2023, were up 3 per cent in premarket trading.