Operator
Operator
Welcome to the Anheuser-Busch InBev third quarter 2017 earnings conference call and webcast. Hosting the call today from AB InBev are Mr. Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Felipe Dutra, Chief Finance and Technology Officer. To access the slides accompanying today's call, please vibe AB InBev's website now at www.ab-inbev.com and click on the Investors tab. Today's webcast will be available for on-demand playback later today. At this time, all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode and the floor will be opened for your questions following the presentation. Some of the information provided during the conference call may contain statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. It is possible that the company's actual results and financial condition may differ possibly, materially from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect the firm's future results, see Risk Factors in the company's latest Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the 22nd of March 2017. AB InBev assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information provided during the conference call and shall not be liable for any action taken in reliance upon such information. Please refer to the reference-based press release dated 6th of January 2017 available on the company's website for important information about the company's updated 2015 and 2016 segment reporting. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Carlos Brito. Sir, you may begin. Carlos Alves de Brito - Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV: Thank you, Maria, and good morning, good afternoon, everyone and welcome to our 2017 third quarter results conference call. Before we discuss results, I'd like to take a moment to highlight the one-year anniversary of the combination with SAB, which we recently celebrated on October 11. Our people have amazed us over the past year. We came together, learned from one another and grew into a better, stronger company. We have brought out the best in each other. We have lived up to the challenge, taken ownership and navigated complex and massive change to achieve more than we could have imagined. We have a lot to be proud of, from our new category expansion model for the scale up of our global brands into our new geographies to the exchange of world-class best practices to all our breweries and supply teams. And this is just the beginning. We have a long and exciting journey ahead of us. Today, we celebrate being a committed, hardworking, fun-loving team, whose passionate about bringing people together for a better world. So, here's to one year and the next 100 to come. Turning now to our third quarter results. Total revenue in the quarter grew by 3.6% with revenue per hectoliter growing by 5.4% on a constant geographic basis, driven by revenue management initiatives and continued premiumization efforts. The premiumization strategy was supported by our global brands which grew revenue by 1.6%. Total volumes declined by 1.2% with our own beer volumes down 1.5% and non-beer volumes down 0.9%. EBITDA grew by 13.8% with margin expansion of 353 bps to 38.9%, driven by an improved performance in Brazil, as well as the continued delivery of synergies. Normalized earnings per share increased by $0.48 or 58% from $0.83 to $1.31, predominantly due to a higher profit. Finally, the board has approved an interim dividend of €1.60 per share for the fiscal year 2017, the same as last year and consistent with our commitment to deleverage. Now turning to our global brands, which delivered revenue growth of 1.6% for the quarter and 7.3% for the nine-month period this year. Budweiser revenues were down by 2.2%, although they grew by 4.4% outside of the U.S. driven by growth in Brazil, South Korea, Colombia and Chile. This quarter, the highlight of our Budweiser Global Music Program was Tommorowland, which I will discuss in further detail on the next slide. Stella Artois grew revenues by 0.9% with good volume-led performances coming from Argentina, South Korea and Brazil, partially offset by declining shipments in the U.S. as a result of the temporary transportation disruptions caused by the major hurricanes. Corona continued its impressive track record of growth with revenues up by 9.6% and by over 11% outside of Mexico, driven by China, the UK and now a meaningful contribution from Colombia. We'll continue fueling the growth of our global brands through consistent communication and execution around the world, while further expanding in new markets. This July, we once again activated our global partnership with Tomorrowland, the world's largest global electronic music festival which brings over 400,000 people together over the course of two weekends. The Budweiser music video created specifically for this event received over 10 million views. We activated Tomorrowland campaigns across 18 countries engaging almost 200 million consumers through initiatives such as special packaging, digital content and activations in the on and off trade. We look forward to continuing to scale up our partnership with properties such as Tomorrowland to engage consumers in new ways throughout the world. Before we get into the performances of our markets, I'd like to highlight the many achievements of our beers this year. Brewing the highest quality beers is a passion of each and every one of us, who are driven by the opportunity to offer our consumers the best possible beers across many styles. Winning awards at renowned beer competition is a recognition of that hard work and our dedication to brewing and quality. We're very proud of the 164 awards we have won at major beer competitions this year to date, of which 52 are gold medals, including Jupiler 0,0%, which was introduced in Belgium earlier this year. Our most awarded breweries so far this year included 4 Pines from Australia with an amazing 39 awards, followed by our craft partners in Brazil, Wäls and Colorado, who have won 24 and 18 awards, respectively. Hertog Jan, a flavorful strong ale, is our most-awarded single beer in 2017. We believe our impressive portfolio of high quality beers is key in enabling us to grow the global beer category. Let's now have a closer look at the results of each of our regions. Our revenue in North America declined by 5.3% this quarter, due to industry softness in both the U.S. and Canada, while revenue per hectoliter improved by 0.9%. Volumes declined by 6.1%. EBITDA declined by 1.4% with margin expansion of 164 bps to 41.8%. In the U.S., we estimate industry sales-to-retailers or STRs declined by 1.7% in the quarter and by 1.3% in the first nine months. Our STRs were down 3.4%, resulting in market share loss of approximately 80 bps for both the quarter and the year-to-date based on our estimates. Our revenue in the U.S. declined by 5.6%, however we saw revenue per hectoliter growth of 0.9%. Revenues based on sales-to-wholesalers or STWs which were down 6.4% largely attributed to shipment disruptions from major hurricanes in Texas and Florida. We expect STRs and STWs to converge on a full-year basis. During difficult times such as these, our first priority is the safety and support of our employees in affected areas, and we have focused on giving back to our communities across the country. We have donated more than 2.8 million cans of emergency drinking water in 2017 alone, with more than 2 million of those cans going out recently to Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida, U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern California. Our premiumization strategy and tight cost management enabled the continued expansion of our gross profit margin, which grew by 94 bps to 62%, while EBITDA declined by 0.7% with margin expansion of 211 bps to 42.2%. The hurricanes in the quarter accounted for a full 2-percentage-point negative impact to EBITDA in the U.S. in the quarter. The highlight of our U.S. portfolio continues to be Michelob Ultra, which has been the biggest share gainer in the U.S. industry for the past 10 quarters. This past quarter, the brand achieved its highest quarterly share gain in the last five years, reaching almost 10% of our total volume, as its growth accelerates through increased penetration. As consumers in the U.S. continue to trade up to Above Premium brands, we believe we are well positioned with our craft portfolio, which is outperforming the segment, and our import brands, led by Stella Artois. The Premium Light segment in the U.S. remains under pressure, with Bud Light losing 95 bps of market share in the quarter. However, we recently launched a new suite of creative content, some of which focuses on the quality credentials of the brand. That resulted in an immediate increase in ad awareness. We remain committed to turning around Bud Light and continue to invest the time, talent, and resources necessary to do so. Budweiser also remains under pressure along with the U.S. Premium segment, losing 45 bps of share this quarter. With that being said, we're excited by our latest creative content, which resulted in Budweiser becoming the industry-leading brand in ad awareness and consideration growth this quarter. The U.S. market remains complex yet exciting, and we're confident that our diverse portfolio of brands allows us to address a wide variety of consumer preferences. Moving now to Latin America West, revenue grew by almost 9%, with revenue per hectoliter increasing by 5.5% as a result of revenue management initiatives and favorable brand mix. Volumes were up 3.2%, led by performances in Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. Our EBITDA increased by 13.1%, with margin expansion of 173 bps to 47.4%, with strong top line growth supported by synergy capture. Mexico had another great quarter, with revenues growing by double digits and volumes up by mid-single digits. EBITDA grew by 8.3% with margin contraction of 110 bps to 42.7%, as top line growth was partially offset by the combined impact of currency devaluation on our cost of sales, a 30% increase in fuel costs in the beginning of the year, and pressure on our production grid to meet growing demand both domestically and internationally. The strong top line growth was accelerated by the success of our core plus and premium brands. We believe premiumization represents an opportunity to fuel the long-term growth of the beer category in Mexico, especially through expansion into new occasions. In Colombia, revenues were up by 6.7%. A slight decline in beer volumes of 1.4% was offset by the growth of Pony Malta, which led to non-beer volume growth of 10.3%. Our EBITDA grew by 4.7%, with 95 bps of margin contraction. This top line growth and synergy capture were partially offset by the phasing of sales and marketing investments as well as the release of certain provisions in the prior year. We're committed to growing the beer category in Colombia and believe one of the biggest opportunities to do so lies in the growth of new consumption occasions. Many of our brands initiatives are dedicated to this opportunity, especially targeting the weekday occasion and the meal occasion. Moving now to Latin America North, our performance in Latin America North saw sequential improvement this quarter from a challenging first half. Revenue was up by 8%, and our revenue per hectoliter improved by almost 12%. Volumes in the region declined by 3.5%. EBITDA grew 16.7%, primarily driven by the performance in Brazil, with margin expansion of 298 bps to 39.8%. In Brazil specifically, we saw the beer industry decline by low-single digits this quarter in a consumer environment that remains challenging. Our business grew revenue by 8.6%, with revenue per hectoliter growth of 13.1%. Volumes declined by 4%, with beer volumes declining 5.4% and non-beer volumes up by 0.5%. This performance was largely attributable to the fact that in the prior year, price increases were delayed into the fourth quarter, creating a difficult volume comparable. Brazil EBITDA grew by 14.5%, with margin expansion of over 200 bps to 39%, with strong EBITDA growth in our beer business, partially offset by an EBITDA decline in our non-beer business, which was heavily impacted by commodity price escalation in the quarter. We believe that the revenue growth achieved this quarter signals a return to sustainable growth from a strengthened market position in our beer business. We remain cautiously optimistic about the Brazilian economy and are confident in our commercial plans and our ability to accelerate EBITDA growth and margin recovery for the balance of the year. Brazil continues to lead the way in premiumization and integration of the beer category as part of our commercial priorities. The recent packaging revamp of the entire Brahma brand family has led to a double-digit increase in purchase intent, with brand preference trending up. Brahma Extra, our core plus variant of the Brahma family, grew volumes by double digits this quarter. Our craft portfolio also grew by double digits, as the craft segment continues to grow in Brazil. Let's now move to Latin America South, where we had a solid performance, with revenues growing by well over 20%. Revenue per hectoliter grew 16.9%, driven by premiumization as well as revenue management initiatives. Volumes improved by 4.5%, with continued growth in Argentina, driven by an enhanced commercial strategy, as well as Paraguay delivering its best ever quarterly performance. EBITDA grew by 17.3% with margin contraction of 193 bps to 46.9%, as top line growth was partially offset by cost of sales increases as a result of continued adverse foreign exchange impacts. Turning now to EMEA, where our revenues grew by 4.5% this quarter with revenue per hectoliter increasing by 5.4%, largely driven by the continued growth of our premium brands in Western Europe, leading to share gains in most of our markets, as well as our revenue management initiatives. Our volumes declined by 0.9%, with owned beer volumes declining 0.5%, as broad-based growth across Africa was offset by beer volume declines of 2.5% in South Africa. EBITDA grew by 20.8% with margin expansion of 454 bps to 33.7%, as top line growth was enhanced by synergy capture in Africa. In South Africa this quarter, our beer revenues grew by 3.9%, with revenue per hectoliter increasing by 6.6%. Our beer volumes declined by 2.5%, largely due to the phasing of inventory levels between the second and third quarter of the year due to the timing of our price increase. Our EBITDA grew by 30.7% in the third quarter, with margin expansion of 645 bps. In August, we launched Budweiser, rounding out our global brand portfolio in South Africa. We're e We're excited about the progress we have made with Stella Artois and Corona, increasing brand awareness through experiential activations and trade execution in key urban centers. So far this year, their volumes have almost tripled. We're looking forward to scaling up the distribution and activations of all three global brands to grow the premium segment in the country. Moving now to the Asia Pacific region, where we delivered revenue growth of 4.6%, driven mostly by brand mix as volumes in the region were up marginally. This was led by the strength of our core plus and super premium brands in China as well as positive brand mix in Australia. EBITDA grew by 14.4% with margin expansion of almost 300 bps to 34% with top line growth supported by synergy capture in our new markets. In China, revenues grew by 4.6% despite a slight decline in beer volumes of 0.2% as our growth in the country continues to come from the more profitable core plus and above segments. EBITDA grew by 12% this quarter with margin expansion of 193 bps to 29%. We have seen good growth this year from our core plus portfolio which accelerated in the third quarter. This was led by our Harbin family of brands and driven by increased LDA penetration. We're also pleased by our recent Harbin Baipi innovation, a wheat beer that's outperforming expectations and grew by almost 18 times so far this year. We remain confident in our ability to grow our business in a sustainable way for the long term with a portfolio focused on the core plus and above segments. With that, I would like to hand over to Felipe, who'll take you through some further detail in our third quarter results. Felipe? Luis Felipe Pedreira Dutra Leite - Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV: Thank you, Brito, and good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Let's start with an update on our synergies. This quarter we delivered $336 million. We are updating our total synergy guidance from $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion to be delivered within the same four-year period following the close of the combination. This number is inclusive of the $1.05 billion of cost savings previously identified by SAB. The incremental $400 million are expected to be derived predominately from procurement and engineering savings as well as best practice sharing. We now expect the delivery of this recurring synergies to require estimated one-off cash costs of approximately $1 billion, an increase of $100 million to be incurred in the first three years after closing, and of which $465 million has been spent to date. As a reminder, these synergies do not include any top line or working capital opportunities. Net finance costs in the quarter were over $1.1 billion compared to over $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2016. This decrease was driven primarily by a favorable $240 million mark-to-market gain linked to the hedging of our share-based payment programs, compared to a loss of $57 million in the third quarter last year, a swing of almost $300 million partially offset by FX losses. Our normalized effective tax rate for the third quarter was 16.7%, up from 11.7% in the third quarter of 2016. Our guidance for full year 2017 remains in the range of 22 to 24%, which excludes the impact of any future gains and losses related to the hedging of our share-based payment programs, as we have said before. However, at this point, we expect to be at the lower end of this range. Normalized earnings per share increased 58% year-over-year from $0.83 to $1.31. This was largely driven by an $0.89 increase in normalized EBIT due to organic growth and benefiting from the earnings of the retained SAB business. There was also an $0.18 year-over-year positive change in the mark-to-market adjustments linked to the hedging of our share-based payment program. In addition, the year's results were impacted by the pre-funding costs related to the SAB transaction not yet matched by earnings. These favorable impacts were partially offset by dilution due to the increased number of shares as well as an increase in income tax expense. The board has proposed an interim dividend of €1.60, and as you can see from slide 26, this is the same as the last three years and consistent with our commitment to deleveraging. Our capital allocation objectives are unchanged. Our optimal capital structure remains a net debt/EBITDA ratio of around 2 times. Our first priorities for the use of cash, we always see to invest behind our brands and to take full advantage of the organic growth opportunities in our business. Deleveraging to around 2 times remains our commitment and we'll prioritize debt repayments in order to meet these objectives. M&A remains a core competency and we'll always be ready to look at opportunities when and if they arise, subject to our strict financial discipline and deleveraging commitment. Our goal is for dividends to be a growing flow over time, consistent with the non-cyclical nature of our business. However, as we have said before, given our emphasis on deleveraging, dividend growth is expected to be modest in the short term. And with that, I will hand back to Maria to begin the Q&A section. Thank you.