Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has announced that it has won market share in the UK beer market due to a growth in popularity of Stella Artois.
Posting results this morning, the company said that Stella Artois sales volumes in the UK increased 6.6% in the second quarter and by 3.7% in the first half.
The group said it had benefited from the launch of the lower strength 4% version of the beer and that Stella was back “in strong brand health”.
The company’s overall own-brand volumes in the UK fell 3.4% in the second quarter and 4.8% in the first six months of the year.
Ebitda increased 18.5% to $3.6bn (£2.17bn) on a comparable basis and revenue for the three-month period rose by 1.4% to $9.5bn.
The company said that it has decreased overall cost of sales by 5.6% in the second quarter, although it warned that many challenges remained and the second half of the year was set to be significantly weaker.
Stuart MacFarlane, president of InBev UK, said: “In the UK we have delivered some encouraging results in the first half of 2009 despite the difficult economic climate and weak industry conditions.
“We have gained market share in the UK as a result of the resurgence of Stella Artois following the launch of Stella Artois 4% and the new creative strategy. Stella Artois has continued to build momentum in the UK, in spite of weak industry conditions, exhibiting strong brand health.
“The Beck's family sales in the On Trade have been up in H1 enjoying the best period of sustained growth for more than three years and Beck's Vier has experienced solid growth across all channels.
"Budweiser is the No 1 packaged lager in the On Trade by volume and has achieved double digit growth in the Take Home market during the first half of the year.
"We have made a promising start to the year but the UK beer market remains very challenging. We are building the foundation for future growth of our brands by continuing to invest in sales and marketing resources."
