Molson Coors has reported a 17.6% increase in net sales on a constant currency basis, with the beer giant reaffirming its guidance for the full year.
Net sales were up 16.7% on a reported basis, driven by positive net pricing, a 'favourable' sales mix and financial volume growth, the group said.
“The start of 2022 brought continued momentum for Molson Coors," commented Molson Coors president and chief executive Gavin Hattersley. "Many of our core brands continued to outperform their peers, we again earned the largest growth in US hard seltzers among major brewers, and our expansion beyond beer continued to track ahead of our $1 billion revenue target.
"All were factors in delivering not just a successful quarter, but the most quarterly top-line growth this company has had in more than ten years."
Top Line Growth
The period saw the fourth consecutive period of top line growth for the business, with its core brands, Coors Light and Miller Lite both seeing revenue up.
In Europe, the group said that it reported 'significant growth' in the quarter due to the reopening of pubs and restaurants, with brands such as Carling performing strongly.
Net sales for the period came in at $2.21 billion (€2.10 billion), along with net profits of $151.5 million (€144.1 million).
'Strong Pricing And Sales Mix'
“We had a strong first quarter, delivering double-digit top and bottom-line growth on a U.S. GAAP basis and triple-digit bottom-line growth on an underlying basis," said Tracey Joubert, chief financial officer.
"Our performance benefited from strong pricing and sales mix and our efforts to mitigate the challenging inflationary environment, while still increasing investments behind our core brands and key innovations."
Forecast For 2022
Looking ahead, Molson Coors said that expects to report 'mid-single-digit' net sales growth on a constant currency basis, while underlying income is forecast to see a high-single-digit increase.
It did cite a number of 'inherent uncertainties' in the trading environment, however, including cost inflation, a collective bargaining process in Québec, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The group recently announced a tie-up with Coca-Cola on the development of a range of alcoholic lemonade products.
Read More: Europe Needs To Continue To Support The Beer Sector: The Brewers of Europe
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