InBev posts Q3 results up, announces new products

InBev posted its positive Q3 results despite the economic downturn whilst showing off two new products. Carlos Brito, CEO, commented We’re delivered by the double-digit EBITDA growth in a challenging operating environment, made significant progress on all our commitments, while increasing our sales and marketing investment. The integration of Anheuser-Busch continues to run ahead of plan. The company has captured $265 million worth of synergies in the third quarter of 2009, bringing the 9 month total to $875 million. At the same time we are launching two new products in the US: Bud Light Golden Wheat and Select 55. Anheuser-Busch InBev enters the fourth quarter a much stronger company than at the start of the year, with a significantly improved balance sheet. The sale of Busch Entertainment and our Central European operations drove our divestiture total well over our $7 billion commitment, to approximately $9.4 billion USD, of which approximately $7.4 billion are cash proceeds at closing. Deleveraging remains a priority and we will continue to execute against our synergy and cash flow goals, while selectively evaluating non-core assets during the normal course of business.