Belgium: InBev is forecast to post sharp rise in Q3 EBITDA
Third-quarter EBITDA for the Leuven-based brewer is seen jumping to 1.125-1.139 bln eur from last year's 965 mln, AFX News communicated on November 8th. Sales for the quarter are forecast to rise to 3.578-3.567 bln eur from 3.193 bln a year earlier.
"We believe the market already anticipates very good results," Degroof analyst Marc Leemans said. "The main risks in our opinion lie in the tougher comparison base and potentially weak volumes in western Europe," he said.
Delta Lloyd analyst Johan van den Hooven said: "Continued volume growth is expected in Latin America, with Brazil estimated to be up 4 pct, and central and eastern Russia, mainly Russia." Van den Hooven added: "The focus will be on western Europe, where markets have remained difficult, particularly in the UK due in part to a stock overhang following the World Cup."
KBC analyst Wim Hoste said: "Overall, markets will be particularly attentive to margin evolution in western Europe. We expect a rise of 2.2 percentage points to 26.6 pct on an EBITDA level." Hoste added: "But also the central and eastern European and Asian-Pacific businesses will be closely watched, with the question whether they can confirm the second-quarter margin uptick." Analysts are hoping for an update on future margin development.
"Previously, management has hardly given any guidance except for the EBITDA margin target of 30 pct in 2007, which we believe is very much achievable," van den Hooven said.
"It however remains to be seen whether the company will provide guidance for the expected margin for the full year in 2006," he said.
In September, InBev posted a second-quarter EBITDA of 1.06 bln eur, up from 821 mln eur a year earlier and well above forecasts for 933-998 mln. Second-quarter sales rose to 3.38 bln eur from 2.95 bln, at the top end of forecasts.
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