Molson Coors Brewing Company announced on February 9 the most recent financial results for Adolph Coors Company, reporting higher consolidated net sales, net income and earnings per share for the fourth quarter and full-year 2004.

For the 13-week fourth quarter ended Dec. 26, 2004, the company reported net sales of $1.1 billion, up 10.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2003. Fourth quarter 2004 sales volume increased 4.7 percent from the fourth quarter 2003. Fourth quarter operating income of $90.9 million and net income of $55.7 million increased 37.5 percent and 54.4 percent, respectively, from a year ago. Fourth quarter earnings per share were $1.45, up 48.0 percent from a year earlier. Earnings for fourth quarter 2004 benefited from solid beer pricing and volume growth in the company's Americas and Europe segments, along with one-time gains on asset sales totaling $19.2 million pretax, a lower effective tax rate, and favorable foreign currency exchange rates. These results do not include Molson Inc. financial results for the quarter ended December 2004, which were released separately.

For the 52-week fiscal year ended Dec. 26, 2004, Adolph Coors Company achieved consolidated net sales of $4.3 billion, a 7.6 percent increase from 2003. Reported sales volume totaled 32,703,000 U.S. barrels, or 38,376,000 hectoliters, in 2004, a 0.1 percent decrease from 2003. Net income for the full year was $196.7 million, a 12.6 percent increase compared to full year 2003, and earnings per share were $5.19, up 8.8 percent from the prior year.

Leo Kiely, chief executive officer, said, "Overall, Adolph Coors Company finished 2004 with good financial results in a very competitive industry environment. In the U.S., despite very soft industry demand, our sales to retail increased in the fourth quarter, partially driven by the comparison to lower sales in the fourth quarter of 2003, when we faced U.S. supply-chain challenges. Our volume trends also benefited from the introduction of Aspen Edge earlier this year and strong growth from our Blue Moon and Zima XXX brands in the fourth quarter. In addition, continued progress on productivity initiatives in our U.S. operations enabled us to manage cost pressures, which were particularly challenging in the areas of energy and packaging materials. “In Canada, our Coors Light business continued to deliver strong profit growth.”

"Our U.K. business achieved solid growth in volume, net sales and earnings for the fourth quarter, despite higher distribution costs and continued declines in sales of flavored alcohol beverages and non-owned beverage brands. Profit growth in our Europe segment was driven by a gain on the sale of our Cape Hill brewery property, strong volume performance from Carling and Grolsch, improved pricing in both the on- and off-trade channels, and favorable foreign exchange rates. For the full year, we gained market share in the U.K. in both the on-trade and off-trade channels.

"On a company-wide basis in the fourth quarter, we repaid about $127 million of debt, resulting in full-year debt repayments of $382 million. We have now repaid $862 million of debt in the past three years, essentially all of our short-term debt and more than half of the debt related to our 2002 CBL acquisition.

"Looking ahead, we will be simultaneously focused on improving the fundamentals of our U.S. and U.K. businesses and on working with our new colleagues from Molson to maximize the value opportunities presented by the Molson Coors merger, which closed earlier today."

In the fourth quarter 2004, net sales in the Americas segment increased 9.0 percent from the fourth quarter a year ago. Fourth quarter sales volume for the segment was up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, and wholesaler sales to retail increased 1.0 percent. U.S. sales volume to wholesalers also increased 4.2 percent, while wholesaler sales to retail increased 0.8 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales volume to wholesalers exceeded sales to retail because the company's distributors started the fourth quarter of 2003 with high beer inventories in anticipation of our supply-chain systems changeover that quarter. Americas segment pretax earnings, up 74.6 percent from a year earlier, partially benefited by one-time real estate sales of $11.7 million pretax in the quarter.

For the full year 2004, Americas segment net sales increased 3.0 percent from a year earlier. Americas segment sales volume for 2004 decreased 0.7 percent compared to the prior year, while sales to retail decreased 0.3 percent. U.S. sales volume and sales to retail decreased 0.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, compared to full year 2003. Pretax income for the full year 2004 increased 17.8 percent from 2003.

The company's Coors Light business in Canada achieved pretax earnings of $60.7 million for full year 2004, up 27.7 percent from 2003. Fourth quarter income of $15.7 million was 25.0 percent higher than a year ago, driven by mid-single-digit volume growth in a tough market, improved beer pricing, and a 7.3 percent appreciation in the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar during the quarter.

In the fourth quarter 2004, the Europe segment achieved an 11.7 percent increase in net sales from the fourth quarter of 2003. Sales volume increased 5.5 percent versus a year ago, driven by the Carling brand growing at a high-single-digit rate and Grolsch volume growing at a strong-double-digit rate during the quarter. Europe segment 2004 fourth quarter pretax income increased to $60.7 million, up 25.2 percent from the prior year, driven by solid volume growth, a one-time asset sale of $7.5 million pretax (reported as a special credit on the company's income statement) and 9.3 percent appreciation of the British pound versus the U.S. dollar.

For the full year 2004, Europe segment net sales increased 14.7 percent and sales volume increased 1.3 percent compared to full year 2003. Pretax earnings for the segment in 2004 were $158.7 million, a 15.2 percent increase from the prior year.

Molson Coors Brewing Company will conduct a conference call with financial analysts and investors at noon Eastern Time today to discuss the company'syear-end and fourth quarter results.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .