(St. Louis, MO) – Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Q2 2013 earnings on Wednesday. It was a busy first half for the company which closed the Grupo Modelo transaction in the second quarter. Management comments on the U.S. business mirror much of those in the Q1 report with A-B InBev achieving similar performance. See below (as excerpted from the earnings press release).

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In the United States:

Volume

– We estimate that industry selling-day adjusted sales-to-retailers (STRs) declined by 2.8% in both 2Q13 and HY13. Industry volume performance in the quarter was impacted by poor weather and continuing pressure on consumer disposable income, although we have seen an improvement in industry volume trends in recent months. STRs in 2Q13 were also negatively impacted by the timing of the July 4th holiday which led to the deferral of some volume from June into July in 2013. Our own selling-day adjusted STRs declined by 3.6% in 2Q13 and by 3.8% in HY13. We estimate the timing of the July 4th holiday negatively impacted the growth of our STRs by 80 bps in 2Q13

– Our reported sales-to-wholesalers (STWs) declined by 1.7% in 2Q13, with the difference between the decline in STWs and STRs in the quarter being partially driven by the timing of the July 4th holiday, as explained above. Our STWs declined by 3.4% in HY13

Revenue Management

– US beer-only revenue per hl continues to perform well, growing by 3.9% in the quarter and by 4.0% in HY13. The 2Q13 growth was due to the carryover benefit of the price increase taken in 4Q12, as well as brand mix contribution of approximately 140 bps. The favorable brand mix is due to the innovations launched in the last 12 months, including Bud Light Platinum, Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita, Bud Light Lime Straw-Ber-Rita, and Budweiser Black Crown, as well as the growth of our high end brands

Commercial Strategy and Brands

-We estimate our total market share declined by approximately 40 bps, with the share loss due primarily to the performance of our sub-premium brands, given the pressure on disposable income, as well as our strategy of narrowing the price gap between our premium and sub-premium brands. We estimate that our Focus Brand families gained market share collectively in the second quarter, as measured by STRs

– We estimate that market share for the Bud Light family increased versus 2Q12. STRs for the Bud Light brand were down 4.7% in the quarter, marginally better than the premium light segment. Bud Light Platinum market share declined in 2Q13 due to the cycling of launch volumes. This decline was more than offset by strong results from Bud Light Lime Straw-Ber-Rita and Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita, which achieved a combined market share of 1.1% in 2Q13, based on STRs.

– Market share for the Budweiser family was marginally down by our estimates in 2Q13, with Budweiser Black Crown offsetting a share decline in Budweiser. Budweiser brand health continues to improve, driven by the Folds of Honor and Red, White and Blue packaging activations during 2Q13

– We estimate that Michelob Ultra and our high end brands, led by Stella Artois, Shock Top and Goose Island, continued to gain share in the quarter

– EBITDA margin in the US expanded by approximately 80 bps in 2Q13 driven by the strong revenue per hl performance and savings in distribution expenses