Anheuser-Busch Inbev, a Belgian drinks company, has met its quarterly revenue forecasts but is still recovering from the backlash experienced last year. The company announced on Wednesday that its revenue grew by 2.6% in the first three months of the year, in line with analysts’ expectations. However, volume sales decreased by 0.6%, with a decline in sales of beer being offset by an increase in sales of spirits-based drinks in cans.
The results are historically low due to the lasting effects of a customer boycott that followed a controversial campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The company sent her a personalized Bud Light can to celebrate her transition, which led to backlash from right-wing commentators who accused the brand of pushing a liberal agenda and left-wing voices criticizing the brewer for failing to support Mulvaney. Following backlash, AB InBev’s Europe CEO stated that they would “stay in our lane” when it comes to promoting diversity.
Despite this controversy, it is believed that the effects of the boycott will begin to fade as Wednesday’s quarterly results showed an 11.1% drop in sales of AB InBev’s own beer brands in North America, which was attributed to Bud Light’s performance. AB InBev’s CEO Michel Doukeris expressed his enthusiasm about these results and attributed them to the strength of the beer category, diversified global footprint, and continued momentum of mega brands like Corona and Stella Artois. Lacklustre improvements in Asia-Pacific were offset by stronger growth in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa where normalised EBITDA increased by 5.4% to almost $5 billion (€4.65 billion). The company expects full-year EBITDA to grow in line with its medium-term outlook of between 4% and 8%.