Morgan Stanley has issued a research report indicating that BUD APAC (01876) reported first-quarter revenue of $1.49 billion, a decline of 0.7% year-on-year, primarily due to a slight 0.1% increase in volume and a minor drop in average selling price. This figure exceeded the firm's forecast of $1.45 billion. During the period, the Indian market demonstrated robust performance, while the decline in the Chinese market narrowed. The bank maintained an "Overweight" rating with a target price of HK$9.

Normalized EBITDA for BUD APAC fell 8.1% year-on-year to $463 million in the first quarter, surpassing the bank's estimate of $457 million. The normalized EBITDA margin decreased by 246 basis points to 31%. Gross margin edged up by 1 basis point, while the EBIT margin dropped by 164 basis points year-on-year.

Looking ahead, the bank anticipates continued improvement in the company's EBITDA growth, driven mainly by a recovery in South Korean volume on a normalized base and year-on-year margin enhancement in the Chinese market.