Shares of Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (ADR) BUD have been under pressure after the company reported weak Q3 results. The pressure has been intensified by a general selloff in the consumer staples space. “We are cautious to expect too much from the newly acquired SAB units in the near term or much recovery from the legacy business,” Investec Securities’ Anthony Geard said in a report.
Geard downgraded the rating on the company from Buy to Hold, while reducing the price target from €136 to €102.
Concerns Around Cost Savings
Geard cited disappointment around cost savings as “the key risk.” The SABMiller units being retained by Anheuser Busch would add make a significant contribution to the latter’s “faltering top-line growth rate,” and costs savings could drive strong earnings growth for the next three years.
The analyst added, however, that Anheuser Busch’s cost savings targets of at least $1.4 billion and residual SAB savings of $500 million already represent “a stretch target,” since more than half the business in terms of sales had been divested or were associates over which the company had no control. Moreover, emerging markets forex volatility had returned.
“We think news flow could be rather mixed in the next period (Brazil unlikely to turn around quickly, could Argentina follow?) and sense the market may be unimpressed by the evolution of cost savings milestones,” Geard wrote.
At last check early in Thursday's regular trading, Anheuser Busch was up 0.88 percent at $103.17.
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