MONTREAL -- Molson Coors Brewing is reporting a 24.1 per cent decline in profit from its continuing operations for this year's second quarter.
Under U.S. accounting rules, the beer company's net income in American currency dropped to US$174.1 million or 81 cents per share. That's down from $229.3 million or $1.23 per share in last year's second quarter.
The American-Canadian multinational says a major factor was special items related to its pending acquisition of the remaining 58 per cent of MillerCoors from Anheuser-Busch InBev.
There were also operational and market issues in other parts of its far-flung business, including declines in profits from its Canadian operations, an alcohol prohibition in the Indian state of Bihar, and restructurings in Europe and China.
Worldwide beer volume decreased 0.8 per cent and net sales fell 1.9 per cent to US$986.2 million, including the impact of currency fluctuations, the company said. On a constant-currency basis, sales would have been up 1.9 per cent.
Sales from Canada were down US$1.9 million before currency adjustments and European sales were down US$2.2 million.
After adjustments, Molson Coors says it had $239.5 million of underlying after-tax income or $1.11 per share -- down from $263.8 million or $1.41 per share.
The results came a week after Molson Coors announced several leadership appointments at MillerCoors and its Canadian subsidiary once the transaction is completed.
On July 25, the company announced that Stewart Glendinning will become the president and CEO at Molson Coors International, while Kandy Anand will leave those positions to become responsible for MillerCoors's global growth.
The new president and CEO of Molson Coors Canada will be Frederic Landtmeters, the current managing director of Molson Coors UK and Ireland.
