Craft Brew Alliance Reports First Quarter 2020 Results, Including $0.03 EPS and Beer Gross Margin Expansion
Continued strong performance for Kona in the off-premise channel, where flagship Big Wave Golden Ale grew 20% in the latest 17 weeks per Nielsen despite headwinds from global pandemic
While our first quarter was impacted by the current global COVID-19 pandemic, most notably with the closure of our brewpubs to on-site guests and significantly reduced demand for draft beer, we quickly adapted and tightly managed our spend to directly address those impacts. These efforts contributed to earnings per share of
During the quarter, we also continued working closely with regulators in support of our pending combination with Anheuser-Busch (“A-B”), which received overwhelming support by a majority of non A-B shareholders at our shareholder meeting in February and is expected to close this year.
“First and foremost, we are exceedingly thankful that our employees remain safe and in good health during this global pandemic,” said CBA CEO
While Kona’s first quarter shipments were impacted by the current crisis and significant reduction in demand for draft beer, the 2% decrease compared to last year was in line with our internal expectations. As a reminder, in Q1 2019, we launched our largest-ever national marketing investment behind Kona, which included a wholesaler distribution drive in February and significant promotional activity in March to drive awareness. As a result, we anticipated Kona’s growth rate would flatten comparatively in 2020. Acknowledging these impacts, we are providing certain off-premise metrics for the first 17 weeks year-to-date, as reported by Nielsen, to offer a more comprehensive view of Kona’s performance this year. In the off-premise channel year-to-date, Kona is up 9%, driven by a 20% increase for flagship Big Wave Golden Ale, over the same 17-week period a year ago.
“We’re pleased that our first-quarter performance is largely in line with our internal expectations and that Kona was able to grow and hold onto year-ago gains despite the significant pullback in spend,” said CBA Chief Financial and Strategy Officer
In light of our pending combination with A-B, we have suspended the practice of holding investor conference calls and providing forward-looking guidance. As previously disclosed, following the approval by shareholders, the proposed expanded partnership remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of requisite regulatory approvals. For more information on our first quarter performance, please refer to the Form 10-Q filing available on our investor relations website at https://investors.craftbrew.com/financial-information/sec-filings.
About
CBA is an independent craft brewing company that brews, brands, and brings to market world-class American craft beers. Our distinctive portfolio combines the power of
Formed in 2008, CBA is headquartered in
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