Budweiser’s Asia Unit Posts Loss After Virus Shut China Bars

(Bloomberg) -- The Asia-Pacific beer unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV posted a quarterly loss as strict lockdown measures kept restaurants and bars shut through February and March in China.

Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd. posted a loss of $41 million for the March quarter, compared with a profit of $240 million in the same period last year, according to a company filing Thursday. Revenue dropped 40% to $956 million while normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization slipped 69% to $171 million.

Shares of Budweiser dropped as much as 4.4% in early trading Thursday in Hong Kong. The stock is down 20% for this year.

The brewer, which was seeing weak earnings and revenue due to slowing consumer demand in China even before the virus struck, said in February that it might see a drop of $285 million in revenue and $170 million in normalized Ebitda in the first two months of 2020. The company said business has been improving since mid-March, driven by a recovery in China and South Korea.

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Budweiser APAC said all breweries have been reopened in China and more than 85% of restaurants have restarted operations as of late April. The company expects April sales volumes in China declined by about 17%, narrowing from the 46.5% drop during the first quarter.

South Korea, another key market for the company, is also reopening after containing its outbreak through mass testing.

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