What is AmBev?
AmBev is a Brazilian beverage company, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with operations spanning across 14 countries worldwide including Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala (serving Nicaragua), Cuba, Barbados, Saint Vincent, Dominica and Antigua.
The company is known formally as the Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, which translates as the Americas’ Beverage Company. The name is the shortened to the moniker of AmBev.
The company is owned by its parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev.
What’s the history behind the company?
AmBev was founded on 1 July 1999 through a merger between Brahma and Antarctica, two Brazilian brewing companies. Since then, the company has continued to grow significantly, by gaining exclusive bottling and distribution rights for Pepsi in Brazil (October 2000), and adding the production, sale and distribution of Gatorade to its repertoire(January 2002).
The merger between Brahma and Antarctica facilitated the company’s expansion into additional South American territories including Argentina, Paraguay and Venezuela. Continuing its expansion, it soon added Bolivia and Uruguay to its markets, with subsequent acquisitions in the Central American countries: Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
In 2005, the company also began to target Canada’s beer market, and in 2012, brought its operations to the Caribbean through a strategic partnership with E. León Jimenes.
About AmBev’s business
AmBev produces, distributes and sells a number of beverages including beers, soft drinks, and other beverages. It is one of the largest PepsiCo bottlers in the world, and is considered the largest brewer in Latin America. Furthermore, it is one of the largest brewers in the world by sales volume. The company’s portfolio of brands includes Antarctica, Brahma, Skol, and H2OH. In total, AmBev manages over 100 labels.
AmBev’s 2018 Q1 earnings report shows the company’s overall net revenue was up 5.9% from the previous report, with a normalised net profit of R$ 2,610.9 million a 12% increase on 2017 Q4. The company’s normalised EPS in 2018’s Q1 was R$0.16, an increase of 13.6%.
The outlook from the report shows optimism from the company for continuing positive results, this is in spite of the fact of challenges relating to the volume of beer sales in Brazil.
AmBev expects the 2018 World Cup in Russia to provide a boost to the company’s revenue and have released several specially labelled products, historical labels from the years Brazil won the World Cup, in support of this. In 2018, alongside Guaraná Antarctica, they will act as the official sponsors of the Brazilian football team.
Where is AmBev traded?
AmBev is listed on the B3 (Brazil, Bolsa, Balcao) index under the ticker ABEV3, where 19.7% of company shares are traded, as of December 2017. AmBev’s shares are also traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the ticker symbol ABEV. 8.2% of the company’s overall shares are traded on this exchange.
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