A-B InBev released its H1 results today

Anheuser-Busch InBev's CEO has said next summer's World Cup could add 1.2m hectolitres to the company's beer volumes in Brazil.

In a conference call with analysts today (31 July), Carlos Brito estimated the tournament will boost volumes by four times as much as last month's Confederations Cup. Brito described the Confederations Cup - which added 300,000 hectolitres to Brazil's second-quarter volumes and helped A-B InBev recover from a poor Q1 - as a “dress rehearsal” for next year's “main event”.

In A-B InBev's second-quarter results today, beer volumes in Brazil dropped by 0.4%. However it was a marked improvement on Q1 numbers, when volumes in the country fell by 8.2%. The company said it expects volumes to end the year flat or slightly down in Brazil.

Brito told analysts that it is still reviewing international distribution deals for Grupo Modelo's brands, following its acquisition of the Mexican brewer, but said that Corona's distribution could be brought in-house. 

He said Corona is well-positioned around the world but “always on the back of importers with short-term contracts”. Budweiser, however, “is growing because it is our brand,” he said, comparing Budweiser's 19m-hectolitre annual volumes with Corona's 4m hectolitres. “The same can happen with Corona,” Brito said. 

A-B InBev completed its US$20.1bn acquisition of Grupo Modelo last month.