BRUSSELS/NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and smaller rival Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reaped higher third-quarter profits from the U.S. beer market they dominate, even as consumers drank less beer.

Price increases, cost savings and sales of premium brands were the key in North America for AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, and MillerCoors, the combined U.S. operations of world No. 2 brewer SABMiller Plc (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and No. 6 Molson Coors.

AB InBev — maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s with almost half the U.S. beer market — said overall core profit rose 9.1 percent, slightly short of expectations, with a 9.6 percent improvement in North America and a 6.4 percent drop in Europe.

Molson, whose brands include Coors Light, Blue Moon and Molson Canadian, reported third-quarter earnings higher than market expectations, driven by profit improvements in its key markets of Canada, the United States and Britain. [ID:nN03246146]

AB InBev shares fell 3.2 percent in Brussels, while Molson shares rose 4.3 percent in New York.

AB InBev sold 4.1 percent more beer globally in the July-September period than a year earlier, driven by a 12 percent surge in key market Brazil, but suffered declining volumes in North America and Europe. [ID:nLDE6A114Q]

Molson, which lacks large businesses in emerging markets, saw overall volume decline 4 percent in the quarter.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest brewer, said weakness in Europe and expansion costs capped the rise of third-quarter profits after drinking in Brazil surged.

The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said core profit (EBITDA) growth in the final quarter would be “materially” higher than in the third because it spent heavily at the end of last year on U.S. product launches.

Core profit fell just short of broker forecasts due to the costs for marketing its brands following the soccer World Cup and for pushing into more remote parts of Brazil and China.

The company’s shares fell by as much as 2.4 percent to a two-week low of 43.82 euros and were among the weakest performers in the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading European stocks.

“Given the rating of the stock, being broadly in line starts to be not enough,” said Exane BNP Paribas analyst Javier Gonzalez Lastra, who has a “neutral” rating of the stock.

He added that the shares were trading at some 20 times expected 2010 earnings, compared with around 15 times for the three other big brewers — SABMiller (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Heineken (HEIN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Carlsberg (CARLb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

AB InBev, which produces almost 20 percent of the world’s beer, said EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) rose 9.1 percent on a like-for-like basis to $3.53 billion, just below the $3.54 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of 17 brokers.

BRUSSELS, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest brewer, forecast profit would grow at an even faster pace in the fourth quarter than the third after beer consumption shot up in growth markets Brazil, China and Russia.

The brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said on Wednesday growth of its much-watched core profit (EBITDA) would be “materially” higher than that of the third as costs fell, such as on marketing for this year’s soccer World Cup.

AB InBev, which produces almost 20 percent of the world’s beer, said EBITDA in the third quarter rose 9.1 percent on a like-for-like basis to $3.53 billion, little different from the $3.54 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of 17 brokers.

Consumption of its beer in Brazil, where AB InBev has some two-thirds of the market, increased by 12.1 percent, in China by 8.1 percent and in Russia by 8.0 percent.

Volumes in mature North America and western Europe fell by 1.5 and 4.5 percent respectively. Profits in Europe were lower than expected, but elsewhere they were higher than brokers had forecast.

AB InBev said in August it expected core profit growth in the third quarter to be stronger than the 5.4 percent of the first half, with a further increase in the fourth quarter. [ID:nLDE67B04P]

This reflected a rebound in revenues from a weak second half last year, especially in the United States where prices rose, and also the timing of marketing costs this year, with more in the first half linked to the soccer World Cup.

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – SES (SESFd.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s second-largest satellite operator, proved its resilience to economic uncertainty on Wednesday with broadly in-line third-quarter results and kept its 2010 and mid-term outlooks.

SES shares rose to a 12-week high and were up 2.1 percent at 18.5450 euros at 0930 GMT, making them one of the strongest in the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of Europe’s leading stocks.

The shares are up 4.8 percent this week, partly due to the sale last week of a 75.1 percent stake in Germany-based services company ND SatCom to EADS Astrium (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). The unit’s sales had lagged expectations last year.

Luxembourg-based SES, which sells transmission capacity to BSkyB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Canal Plus (CNLP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and NBC, repeated its 2010 forecast that recurring revenue and core profit (EBITDA) would rise by between 4 and 5 percent.

That growth has and will largely come from expansion in emerging markets and migration to high-definition (HD) broadcasts in the developed world.

SES’s satellites beam 291 HD channels down to earth, around two-thirds of them in Europe and the rest split between North America and developing countries.

Chief Executive Romain Bausch commented in a conference call that the satellite industry had proved quite resilient to the economic crisis over the past two years.

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Heineken (HEIN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s third-largest brewer, reported third-quarter sales at the bottom of expectations, as poor summer weather, austerity measures, and low consumer confidence capped European and U.S. drinking.

The Dutch brewer — whose main brands are Heineken and Amstel, Europe’s number one and three beers — said volumes rose sharply in Africa, Asia and Latin America but were lower overall on a like-for-like basis because of weakness in mature markets.

Its shares were down 3.8 percent to a seven-week low at 0900 GMT, to be the second biggest faller on the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading European shares. The STOXX Europe 600 food and beverage index was 0.8 percent lower.

Consolidated volume rose 24 percent because of this year’s purchase of the beer business of Mexican group FEMSA (FMSAUBD.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (FMX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), but like-for-like sales fell 2.2 percent.

The total of 43.8 million hectolitres shipped compared with a forecast for 46.9 million in a Reuters poll. Volumes fell 3.9 percent in the first half. [ID:nLDE69L0XI]

Revenue rose 13 percent to 4.619 billion euros ($6.5 billion), compared with poll estimates in a 4.617-5.008 billion range.

Cost savings, changes in scope and currency profit meant operating profit grew by a mid-single digit percent. Net profit rose 10 percent, on a like-for-like basis, to 520 million euros.

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal(ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) and two major American producers warned on Tuesday that the industry faces a fallow period at least through the end of the year with weak shipments and a margin squeeze .

ArcelorMittal expects a 25 percent lower fourth-quarter profit, while U.S. Steel(X.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and AK Steel(AKS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) see more red ink ahead as the stagnant economy stifles steel demand and raw material costs whittle away at steelmakers’ bottom lines.

Steel shares plunged after ArcelorMittal’s third-quarter core profit slid 25 percent from the previous quarter and the American producers posted losses and gave pessimistic forecasts for the rest of the year.

“U.S. Steel was just catastrophic,” said analyst Charles Bradford, of Affiliated Research Group in New York. “I had expected a loss but was surprised by how significant it was.

“Demand weakened and prices have weakened a lot recently.”

James Wainscott, chairman and chief executive of AK Steel, which forecast a fourth-quarter operating loss, was blunt: “A stubbornly reluctant economic recovery and soaring raw material costs will continue to challenge us in the near term.”

Most analysts were expecting a slight improvement from a poor July-September period, when slowing growth in China combined with weak construction in the United States and thin demand in Southern Europe.

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK (Reuters) – ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest steelmaker, and United States Steel Corp (X.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) forecast a sector soft patch extending to the end of the year with weak shipments and a margin squeeze.

Analysts were expecting a slight improvement from a poor July-September period when slowing growth in China combined with weak construction in the United States and thin demand in southern Europe.

The $500 billion steel industry, a bellwether for the broader economy, profited in the second quarter from a strong auto sector and booming Chinese demand, but since then the latter in particular has cooled.

Iron ore and coal costs rose, but steel prices did not and globally the fragmented steel sector is running at around 70-75 percent of capacity.

Although spelling pain for steelmakers, it has been a boon for miners, which have profited from tight supply of ore, consolidation and the ability to push through price hikes at peaks late in the second quarter.

“Clearly this is the big news of this call, how the demand remains muted into the fourth quarter of this year,” ArcelorMittal Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal told a conference call.

The company, whose output is more than double that of its nearest rival, said shipments would pick up just slightly in the final three months, average steel prices would be lower than in the third quarter and iron ore and coal costs would be higher.

BRUSSELS, Oct 26 (Reuters) – ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest steelmaker, forecast extended softness for the sector on Tuesday with muted demand and a margin squeeze set to depress profit at the end of 2010 after a weak third quarter.

Analysts were expecting a marginal overall improvement from the July-September period when slowing growth in China combined with weak construction in the United States and thin demand in southern Europe.

“Clearly this is the big news of this call, how the demand remains muted into the fourth quarter of this year,” Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal told a conference call.

ArcelorMittal shares opened down 4.9 percent at the onset, among the weakest stocks on the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading European shares.

The company, whose output is more than double that of its nearest rival, said its shipments would pick up slightly in the final three months, average steel prices would be lower than in the third quarter and iron ore and coal costs would be higher.

CFO Mittal said ArcelorMittal had shipped lower volumes of steel and faced weaker spot prices and higher costs in the third quarter — with core profit in line with market expectations.

“Our outlook for the fourth quarter remains cautious because higher costs due to raw materials are still working their way through… There are some regional differences, but overall the demand picture remains muted on a global basis,” he said.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Market leader ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other European steelmakers should show in coming weeks whether a poor third quarter marked the start of a prolonged slowdown or just a brief soft patch.

The $500 billion global steel industry, a bellwether for the broader economy, experienced a sharp rebound in the second quarter due to a faster-than-expected automotive sector recovery and booming demand in China.

Since then both have cooled, steel prices are sluggish and iron ore costs have risen, squeezing margins for steelmakers.

“Steel demand… appears to be reasonably strong in the fourth quarter,” said analyst Thorsten Zimmermann at HSBC in London. “However, stagnant steel prices are spoiling the party.”

Zimmerman has cut steel price estimates for the fourth quarter by 9 percent and for the first quarter by 5 percent.

The steel futures contract on the London Metal Exchange FMD3=LX has gained 18 percent so far this year, but is also 21 percent off a peak hit in April.

World number three POSCO (005490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) of South Korea set a negative tone for the sector this month when it cut its 2010 forecasts after quarterly earnings missed expectations. [ID:nTOE69900A]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s Roman Catholic Church, already reeling from allegations of sexual abuse, faced a new scandal on Friday after its primate wrote that AIDS was “a sort of inherent justice.”

Many lawmakers condemned Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, the head of the Belgian church, for the remarks in a new book and Belgium’s center for equal opportunities received a series of complaints, including one by a lawyer who said his comments were incitement to hatred.

The Church is struggling to recover from the resignation of the Bishop of Bruges in April after he admitted sexually abusing a nephew.

In his book “Monseigneur Leonard – Conversations,” the archbishop referred to a remark by the late Pope John Paul II who said, when asked whether AIDS was a punishment from God, that it was difficult to judge God’s will.

“I would not at all think in such terms. I do not see this illness as a punishment, at most a sort of inherent justice, a bit like how we are presented with the bill for what we do to the environment,” Leonard said.

“Perhaps human love also wreaks revenge if it is mishandled without there having to be a transcendental source.”

Jean Marie de Meester, a lawyer from Oostkamp near Bruges, said he had filed a complaint with the Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism.