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Molson Coors Beverage Reports Annual Sales Growth for First Time in Over a Decade

Molson Coors, the beer conglomerate which sells Miller Light and Coors Light, saw sales growth in 2021 despite shrinking domestic beer consumption. CEO Gavin Hattersley credited his teams’ marketing campaigns for moving product despite the difficult landscape for light beers.

“On a volume basis, we were narrowly down,” Hattersley said in an interview. “We came really close to actually growing those brands in 2021, mostly [hurt] — in my view — because of the surge of omicron in the last six weeks of the year.” His reference to “volume” refers to revenue modeling without the impact of currency and price changes.

For the first time in more than a decade, Molson Coors reported annual revenue growth. After reporting their impressive fourth-quarter results, shares of the brewer jumped around 5 percent in the stock market.

Net sales rose 6.5 percent to $10.28 billion in 2021, a dramatic turnaround from 2020 when net sales declined 8.7 percent. COVID pandemic restrictions may have improved at-home alcohol consumption, but they completely undercut bar and restaurant sales. If given the choice between a light beer or a craft beer/cocktail/wine at home, most consumers will choose the latter.

Molson Coors increased sales by expanding options

Molson Coors tried to tap into that philosophy by expanding their offerings beyond just light beer. Hattersley credited the company’s turnaround plan, which involved focusing on higher quality drinks and discontinuing brands that weren’t selling.

For the fourth quarter, Molson Coors’ net sales grew a whopping 14.2 percent to $2.62 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $2.55 billion. The beverage company missed on earnings per share, though, due to rising costs of raw goods and supply chain woes. They reported adjusted EPS of 81 cents, falling short of Wall Street’s estimates of 86 cents per share.

“We’re not immune from [inflation and production costs], just like anyone else,” Hattersley said. As part of the turnaround plan, Molson Coors took a risk and raised prices in January and February, earlier than its typical springtime price raises. The percentage increases also ticked higher than average, Hattersley said.

In 2022, Molson Coors is forecasting net sales growth in the mid-single digits. It also raised its quarterly dividend by 12 percent to 38 cents a share.

Hattersley also announced that Molson Coors is ahead of its goal to hit $1 billion in sales by 2023 for its emerging growth categories. This category includes nonalcoholic drinks, craft beers, and regionally-specific beverages — like Latin American focused business. Some of these new growth brands in the Molson Coors portfolio include Zoa, an energy drink created by actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson; La Colombe, a pre-mixed coffee beverage; and a few CBD-infused drinks, only sold in Canada at the moment.