Molson Coors Beverage Co. is set to shut a brewery in Ireland, pointing to a “challenging” market for craft beer.
The US giant is planning to cease production of the Franciscan Well brewery in Cork.
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According to a statement, Molson Coors will stop output “early in the new year”. The closure is set to impact 15 employees.
“Unfortunately, despite great work from the team, in the face of a challenging craft beer category and other economic pressures impacting our customers and consumers, it has not been possible to grow the brands to the level needed to sustain the brewery as part of our UK and Ireland production network,” Molson Coors said.
The Staropramen brewer said it remains “open to conversations with interested parties about the future of the brewery and brands”.
The Franciscan Well brewery produces craft beers such as Chieftan IPA and Rebel Red Ale.
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By GlobalDataThe news comes as Molson Coors recorded impairment charges worth almost $4bn in its most recent third quarter financial results.
Molson Coors booked the impairments on its Americas unit and on two other sets of assets.
The charges meant the Coors Light brewer booked a third-quarter operating loss of $3.43bn and a net loss of $2.93bn. The results compared to a third-quarter operating income of $451.2m and a third-quarter net income of $199.8m a year ago.
In the three months to the end of September, Molson Coors generated net sales of $2.97bn, down 2.3% on a year earlier.
Sales in the Americas fell 3.6% and were 2.4% lower in the company’s combined EMEA and APAC division.
Molson Coors posted an “underlying” third-quarter net income of $330.8m, against one of $374.4m in the corresponding period last year.
Last month, the company revealed it was also planning to cut jobs in the Americas as new CEO Rahul Goyal said the Molson Canadian brewer “must transform even faster”.
