By Rob Curran

Molson Coors' first-quarter net income fell 42% and the beverage company slashed its sales and underlying earnings projections for the year, citing intensified competition in overseas markets and economic blues among consumers.

The Golden, Colo., brewer of Miller and Coors beers logged earnings of $121 million, or 59 cents a share, down from $207.8 million, or 97 cents a share a year earlier.

Underlying earnings, excluding certain one-off items, were 50 cents a share, short of the mean analyst estimate of 78 cents a share, as tallied by FactSet.

First-quarter sales fell 11% to $2.3 billion, just shy of the average Wall Street target of $2.4 billion, as per FactSet.

"The macroeconomic environment and its broad effects on the beer industry and consumer, as well as competitive pressures in EMEA&APAC impacted our financial results in the first quarter," said President and Chief Executive Gavin Hattersley, in a statement, referring to the regions of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

Tough comparisons with the prior-year quarter, the discontinuation of contract-brewing deals in the Americas and fees related to a partnership with mixer maker Fever-Tree weighed on results, he added.

"Uncertainty around the effects of geopolitical events and global trade policy, including the impacts on economic growth, consumer confidence and expectations around inflation, and currencies has pressured the beer industry and consumption trends," said Hattersley.

Molson Coors cut its projection for growth in underlying earnings, and now expects a low single-digit percentage-point decline on a constant-currency basis, down from a prior projection of a mid-single-digit increase.

The brewing giant, a marriage between Canada's Molson and Colorado's Coors, also cut its 2025 sales projection, and now anticipates a single-digit percentage-point decline on a constant-currency basis, down from a prior estimate of a low-single-digit increase.

Molson Coors said it would act to mitigate short-term challenges, and plans to cut non-business critical discretionary spending and capital projects. The company said it would still support its medium- and long-term health and growth objectives.

Molson Coors is looking to replace Hattersley, who is departing after more than five years in the top job.

Earlier, Molson Coors rival and Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev reported better-than-anticipated earnings. Investors' expectations for beer brewers' first-quarter sales were low because the Easter holiday had fallen in the first quarter last year.

Alcohol sales are sometimes viewed as counter-cyclical, but 21st-century moves toward connoisseurship with premium and craft beers may have changed that relationship.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT)

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