SAO PAULO, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Companhia de Bebidas das
Americas - AmBev (BOVESPA: AMBV4, AMBV3; and NYSE: ABV, ABVc), announces today
its results for the fourth quarter 2008 (Q4 2008). The following financial and
operating information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in nominal
Reais and prepared in accordance with Brazilian GAAP and should be read in
conjunction with our financial statements for twelve-months period ending
December 31, 2008. Our press release segregates the impact of organic changes
from those arising from changes in scope or currency translation. Scopes
represent the impact of acquisitions and divestitures and the start-up or
termination of activities. We have treated depreciation adjustments arising
from changes in accounting practices as scope in Q4 2008. Comparisons, unless
otherwise stated, refer to the fourth quarter of 2007 (Q4 2007). The
year-to-date (YTD) changes in Reais were restated to properly reflect organic
growth excluding currency changes. Values in this release may not add up due
to rounding.
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Top line growth: Top line growth of +6.5% was driven by price increases
across our regions and our continued focus on revenue management best
practices. Our volumes increased organically by 0.6% in Q4 2008 despite very
difficult comparisons from Q4 2007. Good performances by Quinsa and North
America with +7.4% and 0.5% volume growth, respectively, were offset by weak
volumes in Brazil with Brazil Beer and CSD & NANC volumes declining -1.4% and
-2.2%, respectively.
Market Share: We continue to make progress on market share with both
Argentina and Canada delivering share growth for the quarter. In Brazil, CSD
market share in the quarter reached 17.8% (+60 bps yoy). Beer market share
declined during the quarter and reached 67.5% (-100 bps yoy).
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Selling, General & Administrative (SG&A)
expenses: COGS per hectoliter increased 9.7% in the quarter due to inflation
and higher commodity prices, principally in Quinsa and Labatt. Expected gains
arising from sugar and currency hedges helped to partly offset these
increases. SG&A (excl. depreciation & amortization) increased organically by
16.2% in Q4 2008 due to inflation, investments to support our innovations and
a very tough comparison from Q4 2007, mainly in Brazil.
EBITDA and EBITDA Margin: Our EBITDA reached R$2,920.3 million during Q4
2008, which represents an organic decline of 0.8%.
