Profits at the world’s largest brewer AB InBev slumped 6.3 percent last year, the group said Thursday, tanked by falling sales in North America where its flagship brand Bud Light faced a high-profile boycott.
The Belgium-headquartered beer giant, which also makes Stella Artois and Corona, saw its net profit slide to $5.34 billion (4.93 billion euros) in 2023, down from $5.97 billion in 2022, a company statement said.
Total sale volumes fell 1.7 percent to 585 million hectolitres, with the drop most pronounced in North America — down more than 12 percent.
The brewer found itself caught in the US culture wars last year after partnering with a transgender influencer to promote Bud Light — leading to a boycott by conservative figures.
The group, which claims two billion consumers across 150 countries, acknowledged it had had a bad year in the United States, where revenue was down 9.5 percent.
Despite the slump in sales, price increases still helped the group boost global revenue to $59.4 billion (54.8 billion euros) — up 7.8 percent at constant exchange rate.
CEO Michel Doukeris said the firm had “delivered another year of consistent profitable growth.”
But the company also conceded that “our full growth potential was constrained by the performance of our US business.”
