The Argentine brewing group, Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa), which is actually based in Luxembourg, reported a net profit after tax for the first quarter of 2003 of US$1.0m, or US$ 0.008 per share, against a loss of US$17.4m in the corresponding quarter last year.
The company said the results for the first quarter of 2003 include the Argentine, Paraguayan and Uruguayan operations of Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (AmBev) for the months of February and March, following the completion of the merger of AmBev and Quinsa on January 31, 2003.
Quinsa said EBITDA for the quarter was 42% higher at US$46.1m, while the EBITDA margin improved by 10 percentage points to 31.3%
“We are extremely satisfied with the smoothness with which we have integrated AmBev’s operations to our own,” said Quinsa’s CEO, Agustin Garcia Mansilla. “The speed with which cost and revenue synergies are being implemented in the three markets where AmBev and Quinsa were both involved is extraordinary.”
Beer volumes rose from 3.31m hectolitres to 3.86m hectolitres, principally on the back of improved sales in Argentina, including the contribution from the AmBev operations. Quinsa said the beer market in Argentina appears to have bottomed out after a torrid period.
Soft drinks volumes were virtually flat compared to the first quarter of 2002, the company said, though Quinsa added that the soft drinks brand mix had improved considerably.
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