Molson Coors Posts Upbeat Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Estimates

reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company's sales missed analysts' estimates. The Denver, Colorado-based company reported a quarterly profit of $79.2 million, or $0.42 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $165.3 million, or $0.89 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.46 per share. Its revenue slipped 14.2 percent to $700 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.45 per share on revenue of $718 million. The average estimate among 4 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.47 per share and revenue of $706.22 million. Worldwide beer volume shrank 3.5 percent to 11.5 million hectoliters, while Coors Light volume rose 0.6 percent. Underlying EBITDA slipped 0.9 percent to $228.6 million in the first quarter. Molson Coors underlying U.S. segment equity income rose 5 percent to $129.3 million, while MillerCoors underlying net income rose 4.4 percent to $304.6 million in the first quarter. Canada underlying pretax income slipped 12.5 percent to $30.9 million, while Europe underlying pretax income declined 72.2 percent to $4.5 million in the quarter. The International segment reported an underlying pretax loss of $5.4 million, compared to year-ago loss of $3.0 million. At the end of the first quarter, cash and cash equivalents totaled $317.6 million and total debt was $3.251 billion. Molson Coors President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Hunter said, "Our results for the first quarter reflect continued volume pressure in our largest markets and, as expected, a significant impact from foreign currency movements, a higher tax rate, and terminations of business contracts, all of which we discussed on our last earnings call. Despite this backdrop, we remain resolute in our focus on building our brand strength, achieving positive pricing, transforming our portfolio to the above premium segment, improving commercial execution, embedding Profit After Capital Charge throughout our organization, and delivering total returns to our shareholders." Molson Coors shares gained 2.92 percent to $75.67 in pre-market trading.