just The Preview - Molson Coors Q2 & H1

Brewer Molson Coors will report its second-quarter and first-half results tomorrow (6 August). Here, just-drinks takes a look at how the brewer has fared in the first six months of the year:

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• Molson Coors' latest acquisition, the US$3.5bn StarBev, is still bedding in, but analysts have been keen to mark it as a future winner for the brewer. Back in January, one analyst said the Czech unit will help take the pressure off an underperforming UK. In May, another said StarBev can help prop up Canada.
• There was further trouble brewing in Canada in February. Molson Coors locked horns with Miller Brewing Company in the country after the SABMiller subsidiary said it was terminating a licence agreement between the two.
• In April, Molson launched its flagship Canadian lager out of North America for the first time with its launch in Ireland. The beer is sold at 5% abv in Canada, but the Irish version will be 4%.
• In May, an analyst said Molson Coors, along with Carlsberg, were the best-placed big brewers to cope with the threat of craft beer to their market share. Molson Coors has managed a “small is beautiful” policy better than its rivals, the analyst said.
• In June, Molson Coors hit out at a a ban on alcohol advertising and sports sponsorship in Ireland, saying it would restrict competition and make it "almost impossible" to grow its share of the market.

In Molson Coors' Q1

• Q1 net profits fall by 55% to US$35.6m
• Net sales increase by 20% to $828.5m
• Operating profits drop by 8%, hitting $112m

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