Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP) had something to toast to on Tuesday as the company saw its profit more than double in the first quarter, beating the Street’s estimates.
The company posted a net income of $75.5 million, or 41 cents a share, for the period ended March 29, compared with $34.3 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago. During the first quarter of 2008, the company hadn’t yet formed MillerCoors, its joint venture with SABMiller PLC.
Excluding one-time charges, Molson Coors earned 53 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates of 33 cents a share.
The Denver-based brewer attributed its gains to cost reductions and positive pricing. The company said it achieved an incremental $18 million of cost savings during the quarter as part of its three-year, $250 million cost-savings plan.
Net sales for the quarter came to $559 million, down 59% from last year’s $1.36 billion. The results missed the Street’s estimates, as analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting sales of $568 million.
Volume fell 2.7% globally, with the U.K. leading the decline as consumers cut back amid the economic downturn.
Peter Swinburn, the company’s president and chief executive officer, offered a cautious outlook for the future.
“We are pleased with the bottom-line momentum we have achieved leading into the peak summer selling season, but we nonetheless remain cautious about the rest of the year due to uncertainty around currency exchange rates and beer market volume trends, plus continuing commodity price inflation,” he said.
