Bud plight

25 October 2018 By Ed Cropley, Aimee Donnellan Follow @edwardcropley

The Bud owner halved its dividend to pay down a debt mountain from buying SABMiller. This should free up $4 bln annually, but it could take eight years to hit its leverage targets. Any more trouble in emerging markets will mean an even longer wait for clear heads.

This content is for Subscribers only

To access full Breakingviews.com content you must be a subscriber. Please use the following link to request a trial.

Context News

Anheuser-Busch InBev on Oct. 25 slashed its proposed dividend by half. The Belgium-based brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona said it will pay a dividend of 1.80 euros per share for the 2018 fiscal year, including a 0.8 percent interim amount, compared with 3.60 euros last year.

AB InBev, which paid about $100 billion to buy its nearest rival SABMiller in 2016, said it was accelerating debt reduction toward its target of having a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of around 2.

Shares in AB InBev were down 7.7 percent at 66.73 euro by 0751 GMT on Oct. 25.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *