Brazil: Ambev's Q2 profit falls to 1.27 bln reais

Ambev SA's profit fell in the second quarter as bars and restaurants remained closed around much of Central and South America during the period because of coronavirus-related social distancing measures, MarketScreener reported on July 30.

The Sao Paulo-based company's profit fell to 1.27 billion reais ($251 million) from 2.62 billion reais in the same period a year earlier, Ambev said on July 30. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to 3.35 billion reais from 4.69 billion reais a year earlier. Net revenue fell to 11.62 billion reais from 12.15 billion reais. Sales volume declined 9.2% to 33.5 million hectoliters.

Ambev is controlled by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, the world's biggest beer producer, and brews and markets brands including Budweiser, Brahma and Corona. Brazil is Ambev's biggest market, but the company also operates in other countries in the Americas including Canada, Argentina and Chile.

The impact of the coronavirus crisis has been different in Ambev's various markets because of the timing of the implementation of different social distancing measures and their effects on demand, the company said. The full impact of the pandemic is still uncertain, but the company said it hopes sales will recover quickly.

Brazil beer sales volume fell only 1.6% in the quarter from a year earlier, and total sales volume fell 4.4%. In Canada, total sales volume actually increased 2.9%. Total sales volumes in Ambev's Latin America South area, which includes Argentina and Bolivia, fell 16.5% and in the Central America and Caribbean area they fell 39.4%, the company said.