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Thursday April 22, 8:37 pm Eastern Time
Coors' first quarter profits soar on record sales
GOLDEN, Colo., April 22 (Reuters) - Beer brewer Adolph Coors Co. (RKY - news) Thursday
reported a 22.4 percent increase in first quarter earnings, driven by record net sales.
Net earnings were $12 million, up from $9.8 million in the first quarter of 1998. Diluted share
earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations, at 32 cents compared with 26 cents last year. First
Call's estimate was 30 cents.
For the quarter, Coors reported net sales of $439.9 million, a 6.2 percent increase from a year earlier, while sales volume
totaled a record 4,734,000 barrels - a 0.9 percent increase from a year earlier. Distributor sales to retail grew about 0.7
percent.
''The first quarter in the U.S. beer industry was characterized by a very competitive environment and heavy marketing
spending,'' said Peter Coors, vice chairman and chief executive of Coors Brewing Company.
''Still, we achieved solid results due to strong pricing, continued brand-building efforts and improvements in our product and
geographic sales mix.''
Leo Kiely III, CBC president and chief operating officer, said: "In the first quarter each year, we focus on preparing the
business for peak season. This year, in addition to our usual preparation, we completed production and process upgrades that
we expect to improve our cost trends as the year progresses.
''We also boosted pricing and mix significantly in the quarter and still grew volume modestly,'' he said. ''Overall, we
achieved good bottom-line results while continuing to make substantial investments behind our brands and in systems
technology to improve our business.''
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