LONDON — Belgian beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev posted first-quarter sales and profits well ahead of forecasts on Tuesday, selling more drinks for the first time in years and contrasting with a gloomier mood around key rival Heineken.
The world’s most valuable beer maker reported a 5.3-percent organic rise in operating profit for the first three months of the year, versus analyst expectations for 2.6-percent growth, with another big beat to forecasts on revenues.
Volumes, which were expected to fall, instead rose 0.8 percent, their first growth since the first quarter of 2023.
“Cheers to beer,” said AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris in a statement, saying its performance reflected the strength of the drink, which has seen demand slip in key markets.
The company said its top global brands, including Corona and Stella Artois, helped drive its performance, as did nonalcoholic beer and its unit housing non-beer labels like fast-growing canned cocktail brand Cutwater.
AB InBev has said it will outperform rivals like Heineken and Carlsberg in 2026 despite difficult conditions, which include ripple effects from the conflict in the Middle East such as higher costs for fertilizer, glass bottles and aluminum cans.
Heineken warned in April the war could hit demand for its beers and posted a poorer-than-expected performance in key beer markets in the Americas, sending its Amsterdam-listed shares downwards.
