Interbrew cleared by European regulators to buy Beck's after it made “amendment to agreement” with Scottish & Newcastle, which sells Beck’s in Britain.  That resolved potential competition concerns there, Reuters just reported.  US and Canadian regulators OK'd deal too.  At Labatt USA mtg this week, new LUSA prexy Steve Cahillane reiterated to distribs: “We expect that Interbrew’s acquisition of Beck’s will be finished in the 1^st qtr of 2002.”  What about Beck’s in US?  Steve: “We will discuss with Beck’s management the best way to leverage our common skills and resources after the closing.  The goals will be quite simple: maximize the growth of the Beck’s brand here in the US mkt."

AB volume up 10% in Canada for 9 mos and its earnings there up 30%, cfo Randy Baker told Wall St.  Meanwhile, AB volume up nearly  20% in China and AB profitable there for 1^st time thru 9 mos.   Stellar results in those 2 countries were principal drivers that led to $23 mil, 63% increase in intl oper profits to about $59 mil for 9 mos.  But AB really made hay on its Modelo (makers of Corona) investment.  Its equity income up  $36 mil, 22% to $194 mil thru Sep. That’s net.

Tex still a trouble spot for Miller.  Down 230,000 bbls, 8% thru Aug and Miller Lite down 166,000 bbls, 9% yr-to-date.  Meanwhile, AB picked up almost what Miller lost: up 216,000 bbls, 3.5% YTD.  Bud Light got more than all that growth; it’s up 257,000 bbls, 9%.  But Bud takin’ it on chin too.  Down 118,000 bbls, 8% and Bud Light outsells it 2 to 1 in Tex.   Coors Light also down 48,000 bbls, 3.6%.  For 1^st time in a while, total of top 5 brands lost a bit of share in Tex.  Guess why?  Smirnoff Ice shipped 134,000 bbls (almost 2 mil cases) thru Aug and got 1.1 share.

Modelo  export volume (85% US) down 5% in 3rd qtr and chief competitor FEMSA's exports down 0.2%.  Means Mexican shipments, which were down about 5% Jul-Aug, not likely to be up in Sep either.  But a lot of that 3d qtr drop is also smoothing out shipments and depletions as Mexican import shipments up 22% in 1st half.  Shipments still up double-digits year-to-date, depletions in mid-teens.  Those analysts who predicted modest oper income gain for Modelo in 3d qtr  (see last issue) got it wrong.  Modelo oper income actually dropped 7.2%, “dragged down by lower sales in” US, wrote Reuters. FEMSA profits up 10% in 3rd qtr, but beer sales soft in Mexico tho FEMSA expects improvement in 4th qtr.

Coors shipments dropped 333,000 bbls, 5% compared with last yr when it built wholesaler inventories  about 350,000 bbls.  But STRs “began to firm up,” said prexy Leo Kiely.  Shipments down 0.1% for 9 mos, much closer to sales-to-retailer trend.  STRs down 0.4% in 3rd qtr and 0.9% for 9 mos.  Meanwhile, Coors had higher net income because of lower mktg, gen and admin expenses ($19 mil) and 2% rev per bbl gain.  And even tho shipments off, stock price up 10% since Coors announced results as at least 1 analyst upgraded. 

AB’s 3% rev per bbl gain in 3d qtr and for 9 mos offset continued slower-than-expected 1% volume gains. So it still got 12% earnings per share growth.  AB expects its 4th qtr shipments will be up just slightly.  Sales-to-retailers up 0.8% for 9 mos, but AB up 2-3% in Oct so far, AB group veep Randy Baker told conference call.  And AB looks for  1.2% STR gain for full yr.  Stickin' to more bullish projections for 2002.  More in Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS. 

Uh-oh.  Another sign of changing times. Wynkoop, largest brewpub in US and longtime bastion of craft beers in Denver, saw its own brews decline as % of alc bev sales in late 90s from just under 70% to just over 60%.  The culprit: mixed drinks, according to owner John Hickenlooper.  Entry-level drinkers are “not just beer drinkers” today, observed John.  But a possible silver lining: trend towards mixed drinks already peaked at his establishment, beer has come back a bit in last 18 months.  

Four financial analysts polled by Reuters said they expect Modelo to report just a 0.8% operating profit gain and a 2.4% revenue increase in 3d qtr.  That growth “based on its volumes of national sales and the rise in the price of its exports,” said one.  Another said: “We hope the attacks on Sep 11 will not have a negative impact [on 3d qtr] but, yes, it will be seen in the 4^th quarter results.”