(Reuters) – Molson Coors raised its annual core profit forecast after beating third-quarter estimates on Thursday, helped by price hikes as well as steady demand for its core beer brands like Miller Lite and Coors Light.
Like other alcohol makers, Molson Coors has also been lifting prices of its products over the past year to offset higher raw materials and labor costs, even as some of those expenses have now come down from their peaks.
In August, the company said it was planning to undertake another round of price increase on its products by fall.
However, this has not hit demand as the company sells mainstream beers and malt beverages at more affordable prices even after increasing them.
Net sales in the Americas segment rose 10.8% in the quarter, as it saw an increase in U.S. domestic shipments for its core brands.
A backlash from the conservatives in the United States against AB InBev’s Bud Light has also helped the company in gaining market share from a shift in consumer purchasing behavior.
The company now expects annual underlying income before income taxes to increase between 32% and 36% on a constant-currency basis, compared with a 23%-26% percentage increase forecast earlier.
Molson Coors said it continues to expect full-year 2023 net sales to grow in high single-digit percentage on a constant currency, but narrowing it to the high end of the range. Analysts were expecting growth of 9%.
Its net sales for the quarter came in at $3.30 billion, ahead of analysts’ average estimate of $3.24 billion, according to LSEG data.
The company posted an adjusted profit of $1.92 per share, topping expectations of $1.58 per share.
Molson Coors’ shares were up 1.4% in premarket trade.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
