...Trading Environment Remains Tough The latest results reported by the four global brewers Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI, A/RWN), SABMiller (A-/RWN), Carlsberg (BBB/Stable) and Heineken (NR) confirmed that beer markets remain challenging in most of the world and that FX headwinds are hitting their profits. Companies still enjoy mitigating effects from geographical diversification with some markets maintaining positive product mix effects, though less than in the past. Sales volumes stagnate in western Europe and North America and growth is slower in many large developing markets. What to Watch Withstanding Challenging Times: In 2015 high inflation in developing markets, supporting price increases, was a major enabler of organic revenue growth. This was in spite of lacklustre growth in volumes, with only Heineken reporting a stable increase year on year. In addition, continued cost-cutting efforts allowed all these companies to achieve healthy organic operating profits growth. The outlier was...
