The maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois beer says its first quarter net profit slumped by almost 24 percent despite rising sales volumes.
AB InBev SA, the largest global brewer, said Wednesday net profit fell to $1.4 billion in the January through March period from $1.8 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
The company says revenues rose to $10.6 billion from $9.2 billion last year. In the United States its beer sales grew by 2 percent to 27,000 hectoliters, representing about a quarter of global sales.
The company based in Leuven, Belgium, says it expects the World Cup tournament starting in June to provide a boost to its sales in the host country Brazil but also "in many of our markets around the world."
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---