Q3 2015 Molson Coors Brewing Company Earnings Conference Call on November 05, 2015 / 4:00PM
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THOMSON REUTERS STREETEVENTS EDITED TRANSCRIPT TAP - Q3 2015 Molson Coors Brewing Company Earnings Conference Call EVENT DATE/TIME: NOVEMBER 05, 2015 / 4:00PM GMT OVERVIEW: TAP reported 3Q15 YoverY reported net sales decline of 12.9%. THOMSON REUTERS STREETEVENTS | www.streetevents.com | Contact Us ©2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 05, 2015 / 4:00PM, TAP - Q3 2015 Molson Coors Brewing Company Earnings Conference Call CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS Dave Dunnewald Molson Coors Brewing Company - Global VP of IR Mark Hunter Molson Coors Brewing Company - President and CEO, Molson Coors Brewing Company Gavin Hattersley Molson Coors Brewing Company - CFO, Molson Coors & CEO, Miller Coors Simon Cox Molson Coors Brewing Company - CEO, Molson Coors Europe Stewart Glendinning Molson Coors Brewing Company - CEO, Molson Coors Canada Kandy Anand Molson Coors Brewing Company - CEO, Molson Coors International CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS Vivien Azer Cowen and Company - Analyst Ian Shackleton Nomura International - Analyst Judy Hong Goldman Sachs - Analyst John Faucher JPMorgan - Analyst Philippe Gruson MFUG - Analyst Bryan Spillane BofA Merrill Lynch - Analyst Mark Swartzberg Stifel Nicolaus - Analyst Rob Ottenstein Evercore ISI - Analyst Brett Cooper Consumer Edge Research - Analyst Pablo Zuanic Susquehanna Capital - Analyst Andrew Holland Societe Generale - Analyst PRESENTATION Operator Good morning. And welcome to the Molson Coors Brewing Company's third-quarter 2015 earnings conference call. Now I will turn the call over to Dave Dunnewald, Global Vice President of Investor Relations for Molson Coors. Dave Dunnewald - Molson Coors Brewing Company - Global VP of IR Thank you, Leeanne, and good morning to everyone on our earnings conference call today. Before we begin, I want to paraphrase the Company's Safe Harbor language. Some of our discussions today may include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from what we project today, so please refer to our most recent 10K and 10-Q filings for a more complete description of factors that could affect these projections. Our Company does not undertake to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date they are made. Regarding any non-US GAAP measures that may be discussed during the call today and from time to time by the Company's executives in discussing our performance, please visit the Company's website www.MolsonCoors.com and click on the financial reporting tab of the Investor Relations page for a reconciliation of these measures to the nearest US GAAP results. Also, unless otherwise indicated, all financial results the Company discusses are versus the comparable prior-year period and in US dollars. 2 THOMSON REUTERS STREETEVENTS | www.streetevents.com | Contact Us ©2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 05, 2015 / 4:00PM, TAP - Q3 2015 Molson Coors Brewing Company Earnings Conference Call As you know, Anheuser Busch InBev announced yesterday a further extension of its possible offer for all of the outstanding share capital of SAB Miller and there has been some related press speculation that mentions Molson Coors. As a matter of policy, Molson Coors does not comment on market rumors and we will not be discussing the AB InBev SAB Miller situation on our call this morning, including during the Q&A session at the end. We will devote our time this morning to our third quarter financial results and outlook for the balance of 2015. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Mark Hunter, President and CEO of Molson Coors. Mark Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Company - President and CEO, Molson Coors Brewing Company Thanks, Dave. Hello, and welcome everybody to the Molson Coors earnings call. We really appreciate your joining us today. With me on the call this morning I have Gavin Hattersley, the CFO of Molson Coors and the CEO of MillerCoors; Stewart Glendinning, our Canada CEO; Simon Cox, our CEO of Europe; Kandy Anand, our International CEO; Sam Walker, our Chief Legal and People Officer; Brian Tabolt, our controller; and, obviously, Dave Dunnewald, who you just heard from, our VP of Investor Relations. In the third quarter, our worldwide volume increased 0.7% driven by strong growth in Europe and international. Underlying earnings were lower due to unfavorable foreign currency, increased brand investment and the termination of our Miller brands agreement in Canada and the Modello brands and Heineken Brewing contracts in the UK earlier this year. We increased gross margins on a consolidated business basis driven by the US and Europe. We invested more in our brands in all of our businesses except international where lower marketing was primarily due to the substantial restructuring of our China business this year. In the quarter, we continued to transform our portfolios towards above premium, craft and cider. We expanded the depth and reach of our international brands in fast- growing markets and we increased our commercial capability. We also continued to drive meaningful cash generation and disciplined cash and capital allocation. More specifically, in the US MillerCoors achieved its best quarterly performance in premium lights in three years as both Coors Light and Miller Lite built momentum and grew share of the segment. We continued to roll out Coors Light's new visual identity and Miller Lite launched its [steiny] bottle and grew quarterly volume for the second time in the past year. Outside of the US and Canada, Coors Light grew strongly. And we'll soon launch our largest global brand into the highly profitable Columbian market. MillerCoors announced acquisition of a majority interest in the Saint Archer Brewing Company, a San Diego based brewer of award-winning craft ales. This acquisition will further strengthen our global craft portfolio which grew nearly 10% in the third quarter. The integration of the Rekorderlig cider business into our UK and Ireland portfolio has gone well and our global cyber portfolio grew a low single-digit rate in the quarter. We continue to restructure our business to ensure we are fit for the future, including the restructuring of our China business, the planned closure of the MillerCoors Eden brewing next year, following the closure of our Alton, UK brewery in May of this year. And importantly we've reached an agreement to sell our Vancouver brewery which will allow us to build a more efficient and flexible brewery in British Columbia. Other third quarter performance headlines are as follows. Worldwide volume increased 0.7% driven by Europe and international and despite the impact of the termination of the Miller brand's agreement in Canada and the Modello brands contract in the UK. Coors Light volume grew 1% globally, driven by nearly 20% volume growth outside of the US and Canada. Our net sales per hectoliter decreased 2.3% in constant currency, driven by mix changes within our Europe and international businesses, including the impact of terminating the Modello brands and Heineken contract brewing agreements in the UK, and we grew net pricing in the US, Canada and Europe in local currency. Constant currency net sales increased 0.7% due to higher volume in Europe and international, along with the positive net pricing in Canada and Europe. By adding in the effect of foreign currency, reported net sales declined 12.9%. Underlying pretax income of $295.4 million was down 10.9%, but decreased 1.7% on a constant-currency basis, with the key drivers being increased brand investment and well-documented contract terminations. 3 THOMSON REUTERS STREETEVENTS | www.streetevents.com | Contact Us ©2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 05, 2015 / 4:00PM, TAP - Q3 2015 Molson Coors Brewing Company Earnings Conference Call Underlying aftertax income deceased 4.3% driven by unfavorable foreign currency, higher brand investments and terminated contracts. And these factors were partially offset by higher volume, positive net pricing, a lower tax rate, and the results of our cost saving initiatives. US GAAP net income from continuing operations increased $49.4 million from a year ago due to lower brand impairment charges this year in Europe. We incurred impairment charges of $275 million this quarter related to some of our Europe brands, including the Jelen brand because of continued economic and competitive challenges and increased discount rates across the region. We have also changed accounting treatment of these brands from indefinite lived to definite lived, which we expect to increase amortization expense by approximately $50 million per year based on current foreign exchange rates. Underlying EBITDA in the quarter was $420.2 million, a 10.4% decrease from a year ago driven almost entirely by unfavorable foreign currency movements. Year-to-date underlying EBITDA was $1.104 billion, down 7.7% from a year ago. We also continued to implement our four-year $1 billion stock buyback program with $50 million of cash used in the third quarter to repurchase more than 689,000 Class B common shares from July through early October. Please note that in August we committed another $50 million of cash to be used for stock repurchases during the fourth quarter under accelerated share repurchase program.