Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Molson Coors-sponsored survey finds water pollution key concern
What is the latest and most important environmental concern these days? Global warming? Disappearing ice caps and rain forests? Reliance on non-renewable energy?
Wrong. According to a new survey sponsored by Molson Coors Brewing Co, water pollution ranked No. 1, followed by fresh water shortages, depletion of natural resources, air pollution and loss of animal and plant species.
The survey was commissioned by Circle of Blue, a nonprofit affiliate of the Pacific Institute, a water and climate think tank. It polled people in 15 countries, including the United States, Mexico, China and India, about their views on water issues including sustainability, management and conservation.
Molson Coors, maker of Coors Light and Molson Canadian beers, sponsored the survey as a first step in trying to understand how people in international markets — where it hopes to expand its business — view water.
Check Out Line: Stronger dollar = weaker results
Check out the latest earnings reports, which give a hint of hope that things could be looking up, if it weren’t for that pesky stronger U.S. dollar.
Avon‘s revenue fell 13 percent to $2.18 billion as the stronger U.S. dollar decreased the value of overseas sales by 16 percentage points. On a local currency basis, sales rose 3 percent.
“Foreign exchange significantly pressured first-quarter profit, as expected,” Avon Chief Executive Andrea Jung said in a statement. “We are taking aggressive action to lessen the foreign-exchange impact … the benefits of which should be stronger in the second half of 2009.”
Kraft Foods posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit helped by price increases and cost-cutting. While profit rose, the maker of Oreo cookies said sales fell 6.5 percent to $9.4 billion, hurt in part by — you guessed it — the stronger dollar, which lessens the dollar-value of sales made overseas. Organic revenue, or sales excluding currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 2.3 percent.
Over at MillerCoors, the combined U.S. operations of SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co, net sales rose 3.8 percent to $1.72 billion. Sales from wholesalers to retailers, a good gauge of consumer demand, rose 0.4 percent. Molson Coors said its overall profit rose, as increased prices and cost cuts helped offset steeper commodity costs, lower sales volume and, of course — the stronger U.S. dollar.
One company that couldn’t put any blame on forex is CVS Caremark, which operates solely in the United States. Even if people are cutting back, net revenue still jumped 9.7 percent, to $23.4 billion. CVS profit was better than expected.
Check Out Line: Thirsty for growth
Check Out liquid assets losing some steam.
While companies in every sector have been hit in the downturn, people still have to drink; especially when times are tough and they may reach for a little pick-me-up at a bar or a convenience store. That should help brewers and soda makers, right? Well, sort of.
MillerCoors, the combined U.S. operations of Molson Coors Brewing Co and SABMiller Plc, said quarterly net profit jumped 16.5 percent as it cut costs and raised prices. MillerCoors, the No. 2 U.S. beer company with brands such as Miller Lite and Coors Light, said sales rose 3.1 percent to $1.74 billion. Still, the U.S. beer category softened during the fourth quarter. A big reason the company did well was because it raised prices.
Molson Coors, meanwhile, said its fourth-quarter results were hit by slowing beer sales, higher commodity costs and that pesky foreign currency. The company’s worldwide beer volume rose 4 percent for the year, but fell 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter on a proforma basis. Fourth-quarter profit dropped 44.1 percent.
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