SAO PAULO, Brazil, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Companhia de Bebidasdas Amdricas - AmBev [BOVESPA: AMBV4, AMBV3; and NYSE: ABV, ABVc], announcestoday its results for the first quarter 2008 (Q1 2008). The followingfinancial and operating information, unless otherwise indicated, is presentedin nominal Reais and prepared in accordance with Brazilian GAAP and should beread in conjunction with our quarterly financial information for the threemonth period ending March 31, 2008. Our press release segregates the impact oforganic changes from those arising from changes in scope or currencytranslation. Scopes represent the impact of acquisitions and divestitures andthe start-up or termination of activities. Comparisons, unless otherwisestated, refer to the first quarter of 2007 (Q1 2007). Values in this releasemay not add up due to rounding.
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Strong performances by Quinsa and North America not enough to offsetweakness in the Brazilian beverage industry.
Volume growth: Total volumes increased organically by 1.4% during Q1 2008.Our operations in Quinsa delivered organic volume growth of 9.9% and NorthAmerica reported good volume growth of 8.0% including the Lakeportacquisition, with volumes increasing organically by 0.8% against Q1 2007.However, Brazilian Beer and CSD operations faced volume decline in the quarterdue to a slow down in the beverage industry driven by unexpected and unusuallycold and wet weather, an early Carnival and a sharp increase in core foodprices impacting consumer spend.
Market Share improvement: We gained market share in our main operations asboth Quinsa in Argentina and North America delivered market share growth forthe quarter year over year. In Brazil, our average market share for thequarter was 67.8% for Beer and 17.7% for CSD, 20 bps and 40 bps higher thanfirst quarter 2007, respectively.
Top line growth: Net sales increased organically by 7.1% during Q1 2008.Net revenues per hectoliter (+5.6%) were impacted positively by priceincreases in Brazil at the end of 2007 and the start of 2008, our continuedfocus on revenue management best practices and the development of the premiumsegment in all of our major markets.
Cost of Goods Sold and SG&A: COGS per hectoliter increased 7.8% in thequarter due to higher commodity prices such as barley and corn and a lessfavorable fixed cost absorption. Gains arising from sugar and currencyappreciation partly offset these increases.
