Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ($ABI)

Welcome to AB InBev's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Hosting the call today from AB InBev are Mr. Michel Doukeris, Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Fernando Tennenbaum, Chief Financial Officer. To access the slides accompanying today's call, please visit AB InBev's website at www.ab-inbev.com and click on the Investors tab and the Reports and Results Center page. Today's webcast will be available for on-demand playback later today. [Operator Instructions]. Some of the information provided during the conference call may contain statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. It is possible that AB InBev's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect AB Invest's future results, see Risk Factors in the company's latest annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2026. AB InBev assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information provided during the conference call and shall not be liable for any action taken in reliance upon such information. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Michel Doukeris. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to our first quarter 2026 earnings call. Today, Fernando and I will take you through our operating highlights and provide you with an update on the progress we have made in executing our strategic priorities. After that, we'll be happy to answer your questions. Let's start with the key highlights. The global momentum of our business continued to start the year. The consistent execution of our consumer-centric strategy drove solid top and bottom line performance. Beer volumes increased by 1.2% with record high first quarter volumes in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa and Peru, amongst others. Revenue increased by 5.8% with a disciplined revenue management and positive mix from premiumization and beyond beer. Underlying EPS increased by 20.8% to reach $0.97, an all-time high first quarter EPS for our business. Our momentum was driven by our mega brands non-alcohol beer and beyond beer. In the U.S., our sales to retailer volumes grew, and we were the #1 share gainer in total alcohol as we continue to gain share in both beer and spirits. We increased our portfolio brand power, driven by increased market investments and estimate that we gained or maintained share in 75% of our markets. This marketplace continues to scale with GMV increasing by 55% to reach more than $1 billion in quarterly GMV. In summary, our business delivered another quarter of reliable compounding growth. We are winning in key markets and growth segments, and we are confident in the resilience of our strategy and ability to deliver consistent results. Turning to our operating performance. Total volumes increased by 0.8% and EBITDA increased by 5.3%, with flattish margins as disciplined revenue and cost management enabled increased sales and marketing investments and offset transactional FX headwinds. The strength of our diversified geographic footprint has continued to enable us to deliver consistent results through different operating environments. Our footprint is both well diversified and balanced. With 70% of our EBITDA generated in emerging and developing markets, we are well positioned to capture future industry growth with a mix of currencies. Now I will take a few minutes to walk you through the operational highlights for the quarter from our key regions, starting with North America. In the U.S. our business continues to build momentum with STR volume growth driven by share gains in both beer and beyond beer and an improved the industry. Michelob ULTRA and Busch Light continue to lead our beer performers and were top 2 volume share gainers. Our Beyond beer portfolio delivered revenue growth in the high 60s. led by Cutwater, which grew revenue in the triple digits and was the #1 share gaming brand in total spirits industry in the first quarter of 2026. Now let's turn to Middle Americas. In Mexico, record high volumes drove high single-digit top and mid-single-digit bottom line growth as we continue to outperform the industry. In Colombia, record high volumes drove double-digit top and bottom line growth. In Brazil, market share gain and an improved industry drove record high beer volumes and double-digit bottom line growth. Our premium and super premium beer brands led our performance and delivered low 20s volume growth. strengthening our leadership position in the segment. In Europe, volumes grew by low single digits as market share gains and premiumization offset the soft industry to deliver both top and bottom line growth. In South Africa, our momentum continued with record high volumes driving mid-single-digit top line growth. Our performance was driven by our premium and super premium beer brands, which grew volumes by mid-20s. Now moving to APAC. In China, our volume trend improved as we increased investments to rebuild momentum. Volumes declined by 1.5%, estimated to have underperformed a slightly growing industry. While we have seen some initial signs of improving performance, we still have work to do to strengthen our execution, expand our in-home channel presence and increase our participation in the growing segments of the industry. Now I would like to give you an update on the industry and the beer category and progress we have made in executing our strategy. First, how we start with the industry and the beer category. According to IWSR, the beer category gained 60 basis points in share of alcohol beverage in 2025. and an additional 10 basis points when including the fast-growing beyond beer category. Combined, beer and beyond beer have now gained more than 300 basis points of share since 2019. The number of consumers participating in the alcohol category remained stable year-over-year. And with our data, we estimate that beer participation has also remained broadly stable. Beer plays an important role in bringing people together and creating moments of celebration, and we believe beer has a long runway for future volume growth across our footprint, supported by favorable demographics, economic growth and opportunities to increase the category participation. Turning now to the first pillar of our strategy, lead and grow the category. Our mega brands continued to outperform with net revenue increasing by 8.2%. Corona continued to drive premiumization across our markets. growing revenue by 16% outside of Mexico and growing volumes by double digits in 32 markets. The combination of our leading mega brands and platforms is a powerful opportunity to lead and grow the category. In quarter 1, we share golden moments with consumers at the Winter Olympics, and we are ready to celebrate the shared passion of beer and football during the FIFA World Cup. The consistent execution of our category expansion levers are driving momentum across our key initiatives as we continue to offer superior core brands. innovate in balanced choices and expand our premium and on beer portfolios. Led by the growth of Corona Cero globally and Nikola Ultra Zero in the U.S. our non-alcohol beer portfolio outperformed the industry and delivered a 27% revenue increase. With an estimated 60% of volume coming from new occasions and new consumers, we believe non-alcohol beer is a key opportunity to develop the category and drive incremental volume growth. Let's turn now to our second strategic pillar. Digitize and monetize our ecosystem. The customer behavior and purchase trends captured by this enable us to leverage AI capabilities to execute our commercial strategy. On an annualized basis, we have over 20 billion AI driven touch points. Each 1 is an opportunity to use AI to provide superior service, progress our revenue management agenda and supply leading brands and innovations. In the first quarter, this captured $14.6 billion in gross merchandising value. a 15% increase versus last year. This marketplace continues to scale with GMV from sales of third-party products increasing by 55% versus last year. to reach $1.1 billion. Our D2C business continues to grow and is enabling us to monetize our ecosystem. Our digital platforms serve 12 million consumers and generated $139 million in revenue. As we continue to digitize and monetize our ecosystem, we have started to commercialize third-party products on our D2C platforms. While we are in the early stages of exploring this opportunity, we're now having a growing D2C marketplace with annualized GMV of $160 million. With that, I would like to hand it over to Fernando to discuss the third pillar of our strategy, optimize our business.

Thank you, Michel. Hello, everyone. I'll take a few minutes to discuss the progress we have made on 4 key areas in optimizing our business. Superior profitability, compounding dollar EPS growth, capital allocation flexibility and the sustainability and resilience of our supply chain. Through disciplined resource allocation and overhead management, we were able to offset transactional FX headwinds to maintain our superior margins while increasing our sales and marketing investments to accelerate momentum. While each year has unique dynamics, we are confident that the combination of our leadership advantages, disciplined revenue management, continued premiumization, and efficient operating model creates an opportunity for further margin expansion over time. Moving on to EPS. top line growth, effective cost management and translational FX tailwinds drove underlying EPS of $0.97 per share. a 20.8% increase in dollars. EBITDA growth accounted for an $0.11 per share increase, partially offset by below-the-line items. Our bond portfolio remains well distributed with no relevant medium-term refinancing it. We have no bonds maturing in 2026, a weighted average maturity of 13 years and no financial covenants. In recognition of our consistent financial performance and the strength of our balance sheet, Moody's recently upgraded our credit rating from A3 to A2. As we continue to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of our supply chain, we remain focused on improving operational efficiencies in the following key areas; agriculture, water and energy and nations. Please refer to our website for further details of our goals. Our results in the first quarter, the strength of the beer category and the continued momentum of our business all reinforce our confidence in our ability to deliver on our 2026 outlook of 4% to 8% EBITDA growth. With that, I will hand it back to Michel for some final comments.

Thanks, Fernando. Before opening for Q&A, I would like to take a moment to recap on the quarter, the momentum of our business and the opportunities we have ahead of us. Our momentum continued to start the year, and we delivered solid top and bottom line results. Our performance this quarter is another proof point of the resilience of our strategy and our ability to deliver reliable growth through different operating environments. The combination of our diversified geographical footprint, global scale and superior local execution, disciplined revenue and cost management. consistent investment in our leading mega brands and platforms, best-in-class digital capabilities and momentum behind our initiatives and innovation in growing segments, position us well to deliver compounding growth and superior value creation for our shareholders. With that, I'll hand it back to the operator for the Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Edward Mundy with Jefferies.

So my first question is about the future momentum of the portfolio. It looks like you're now at a different point where the core is stable and the growth part of the portfolio now scaled well integrated into the playbook and they've got pretty decent momentum. How are you thinking about the portfolio from here, Michelle. And then my follow-up question is on your revenue palette of 4.5% in the first quarter. Are you able to split out in the broader terms, what your extinction was mix versus traditional revenue growth management levers like pricing.

Thanks for the questions. I will start with the portfolio momentum and I think if you step back for a second, and you put things in context beyond the quarter only, we are very well positioned to continue to deliver compounding growth and value creation. And this starts, of course, with our strategy. We talked a lot about this over the last 4 years. We've built a strategy that's both is resilient but it's also 1 that we can adapt for different occasions. I always say like beer work in different occasions. And this strategy is based on the footprint we have on the growth areas that we did find for the business and the investment choices that we made, so it could accelerate growth and create options on these areas. And of course, most of the options that we created was focusing on improving our portfolio. You see this coming strongly in the U.S., while we are rebalancing our portfolio towards growing segments, but we are also using this at a global level, investing on the right brands and investing on the right areas where we think that both of the brands that we have and innovation can meet consumer demand and accelerate the growth for both for the category and for our business. And I think that as we keep building on that, today, we have over 40% of our revenues when you think about premium, balanced choices and young beer that is growing at double-digit revenues. And we think that this is the main driver behind our momentum. And of course, the more we feel and the more fuel we give to this momentum, the more we can continue to accelerate this in the future. And when you think about the revenue, this is almost like those 2 things are combined, right, because stronger brands and a stronger portfolio allow us to keep building on the revenue management agenda that we have. And if you look at the quarter 1, for example, mix was a very important component on our revenue per hectoliter growth. You give or take inflation 3 to 3.5 and what is built on top of that is the impact of the growing segments and growing brands and in a component that's very structural for our revenue product liter as we move forward, which is mixed. Thank you for the question.

Our next question has come from the line of Rob Ottenstein with Evercore.

So Michel, you've really delivered terrific results for a couple of years now, a strong start to '26, you've held gained share in most markets. As you mentioned, you're getting strong price mix. you're showing some volume growth. And importantly, pretty much every quarter, almost every quarter, you've hit your medium-term algorithm. And you answered part of this in the prior question in terms of improving the portfolio. But in addition to that, can you talk about maybe 1 or 2, 3 other things that you're doing differently today than maybe 5 years ago that is allowing for such strong and consistent results. And do you believe this is sustainable going forward.

Thank you, Robert. So I like the question because we always say that every quarter will be different, right? So we have different dynamics impacting the quarter and quarter 1 happens to be 1 on the positive side, and we are very encouraged by the way that we started the year with solid top and bottom line performance, but it's also reassuring that over the last 4 years, we have been seeing different operating environment. Nevertheless, the strategy remains solid, and the execution is gaining momentum. And this momentum can be received on the portfolio momentum, on the total revenue momentum, on the growth path that we have, the choices that we made and how these choices now are playing out. And I think that this long-term point of view is 1 of the big changes that we have made because you could not do what we are aiming to do, which is our organic and growth strategy, work on a given quarter only, it needs to be to the long term. So 1 of the things that -- I think we are all very proud in the choices we made and the investments that we have been making to the long-term investments in portfolio, investments in digital capabilities, investments on the brands that we choose to support and grow which are the mega brands. I also think that the execution has been enabled by both a very strong culture and the way that the team is focused on growing the business and the additional benefits of our digital capabilities. So today, the fact that we wired the whole system and that data is driving a lot of the decisions we make, but also supporting the decision-making in the front line is a very important component of our growth algorithm in the way we do business today. And last, I think I talked a little bit about this, but the team has been working very hard in doing everything that we do with a high level of physicians, which is traditional into the company's operational efficiencies but also commercial efficiencies. So the work that we do is making the money that we invest, worked very hard for us and the brands are growing forward. We are gaining share on the key markets that we operate and the choices we made to invest for the future portfolio are gaining momentum and paying off. So very thankful to the team all the work that they are doing. They're working hard to earn this every day. and 1 more quarter that we delivered on our outlook, and we are very encouraged to see what the summer is going to bring, especially with FIFA around the corner. That's going to be an interesting moment in the year. Thanks for your questions.

Our next questions come from the line of Olivier Nicolai with Goldman Sachs.

Two questions, please, both related to the U.S. first, I mean, momentum in the U.S. scalimproved year-to-date. Could you give us perhaps a bit your sentiment on the current consumer demand in light of higher gas prices over the last month? And also, is it fair to assume that STWs are going to be well ahead of SCR in Q2 as you probably build up some inventories for the FIFA World Cup coming up in June. And then secondly, it's been only a couple of months since you got a bid box now part of the portfolio. what -- can you give us a bit more details on what does that brand bring to your existing portfolio of spirit RTDs? And if you would expect the same growth trajectory that you had on neutral water, we adesacannibalizing those.

Hi, Olivier. Good morning, and thanks for the questions. I will try to answer all of them. I got like -- I think 3 or 4 questions in there. Let's see how we do on that. The first one, I think that the overall consumer sentiment is well known by everybody in the industry and in the consumer sector. I think we had a tough year last year for consumers as inflation was still building and people are trying to build back the disposable income. The beginning of the year, fair to say that it was more benign, let's say, in the quarter. And of course, everything that's going on now with energy costs and potential inflation into locations will have somehow a delayed impact. So we have seen some costs going up to date, but we know that it takes anywhere from 3 to 6 months for this really hit on consumers. So at this point, I would say that things are manageable for everybody, for consumers and for the companies. But we know that as we build towards the end of the year, depending on the direction that we see for inflation, these things will start to compound again and will be once again a factor for both consumers to manage and for the CPGs to manage. Fair to say that if you look at the last 4, 5 years, we've been managing 1 difference each and every year or each and every quarter. On the question on STWs and STRs, if you look for the over time or during the full year, they always tend to converge. And this has been true for the last many, many years and will not be different this year. The difference on what you said, if I got correctly your question, is that we should expect on the quarter 2 an inversion on that. And this never happens because of this summer, we often sell more during the summer than what we can ship. So the conversion that you see on STRs and STWs, historically is more towards the back end of the year, not towards the sun. right? So I think that we will continue to see some mismatch as we go for quarter 2 and then quarter 3. And then for quarter 3 to quarter 4 is when things tend to converge. And on the ready-to-drink, I think that we have a great portfolio globally. We have global brands that we are growing in the local market and scaling up globally. Just think, for example, at the expansion that we are doing now with fine fish. So fine fish from Africa traveled to Europe to South America and is growing today in many different markets. This is true for third quarter that we are starting to expand as well, and big box will add to this portfolio and is very complementary. So it's not cannibalistic to any of the other brands that we have and it complements our portfolio, bringing an option that is noncarbonated, more convenient more flavorful and therefore, suits for some different consumer locations and consumer profiles. So it's our portfolio. Now if you look at the top 10 brands, we have cut water, we have neutral, we have bid box. If you look at the top 5 brands growing in the U.S., then we also have a strong set delicate and deep box and as you combine the power of what the team built and bid box with the AB distribution and focus on the U.S., for sure, we will see some good opportunities come to the table. So thanks for the question.

Our next questions come from the line of Sanjeet Aujla with UBS.

Just following up on the U.S. again, please. It looks like the underlying business in Q1 is growing around 4.7%. How much of that is coming from the Beyond Beer portfolio? Is that portfolio gross margin accretive to the U.S. operations or not? And I guess, finally, as we sat here in 12 months' time, what gives you the confidence that brands like Cutwater can keep growing despite lapping what's going to be a really high base?

Sanjay, and thank you for the question. On the first point, I think that the math is very straightforward. So STRs were positive, and the revenue per hectoliter was very good, building on inflation and mix very similar to the global business, as we said before. And this momentum, if we step back and we remember many times that I answered this question and our conversations here. So we are on the mission to rebalance our portfolio in the U.S. because of the nature of the market, the 3-tier system, this rebalance would never happen overnight. but it's something that we have been building over time. And today, we have over 40%, 45% of our business that is already above core, both mainstream in the U.S. And if you think about the brands that are growing pretty much the same number, they are approaching 50%. And when you get the pace of this growth versus how we've been stabilizing the other brands that we have in the declining segments, then the product of this is a product that is very encouraging for the quarter, but also to the mid, long term in the U.S. So we have a better portfolio today than what we had a couple of years ago. And when you think about the beyond beer contribution on that, this was a back that we took to the heart back then in 2017. We learned it a lot. It didn't happen over time. So people like to think about this overnight successes this not. This is 10 years in the making. And this portfolio today is very strong. So we have pure play brands that they enjoy a very special space in consumers' minds. They are building distribution is still all of them have very low distribution, very low household penetration. We are at early stage on the S curve to continue to develop and grow this brand. They all have momentum. Some of them have accelerated momentum like triple digits, but they are all growing double digits some more, and we think that they have room to continue to grow this brand is huge. because, again, low penetration, low household penetration, low participation in consumers, but very, very strong propositions. The margins we talked before about that, like on a gross margin, percentage speaking, they are smaller than beer because they have higher cost base, smaller volumes to date but they are enjoying operating leverage because, of course, they are growing strongly. Margins are only improving. But from absolute dollars, they are way more profitable, let's say, 20% to 30% more profitable than our premium beers. So very good business for us to be in. And third quarter, as you said, at this point, we are concerned with the quality. We are concerned with our message on delivering superior experience ready-to-drink cocktails for consumers, and we are working to supply the demand, which has been very strong to date. So good brand, good place being #1 share gainer in the spirits industry, the fastest-growing brand in that space, so contributing immensely to our momentum in the U.S. Thanks for the question.

Our next questions come from the line of Celine Pannuti with JPMorgan.

My first question would be on FIFA activation. Can you talk about when we should see the step-up in growth for the Q2 and Q3, whether there's anything you can help us in terms of quantification? And likewise, in terms of the step-up in A&P that we should expect in Q2, Q3 on that point, what was the Q1 step-up in SG&A spend on, please? And my follow-up question would be on the price mix. So you said, Michel, that around a 3% or 3.5% inflation and on top of the mix. it feels like inflation CPI globally is not going to decelerate given what's going to happen or the invent unfolding. Would it be fair therefore, that this kind of growth in price mix is resilient throughout the year.

Thank you for the questions. I'll take sure, 3 of them here, and then Fernando can add at the end a little bit on the cost side. And first, I think that the FIFA numbers, we have a good history on that. So every 4 years happens is visible for everybody. And the numbers that we usually globally based on the data that we have suggests that FIFA contributes historically anywhere from 20 to 30 bps of the year volume. And of course, this depends on the location of the games and the time of the games, and this can vary by country. I think it's natural to think that if you go to Germany or Brazil or Argentina is a more relevant event than it is, for example, in some of the Asian countries. I think like 20 to 30 bps globally uplift, and it happens on the months of June and July. So it's a concentrated impact during this month. And we will see normally this coming through in the quarter 2, quarter 3 as we approach the games and now we are on the cut down. So we are really ready with the execution. The execution should be hitting the market as we speak in some of the markets we're already advancing a little bit of that. In some of the markets, we are waiting the final stage that we are approaching now to start kicking off the campaigns. And the SG&A is the same. So this year, on top of being during the summer, which is often a moment that we invest more. We're going to have on top of that FIFA World Cup, and this will somehow spread equally through quarter 2 and quarter 3, quarter 2 a little bit heavier of course because you have the anticipation campaigns and everything that happens. On the price side, very clear, like our poly is to price with inflation. And if inflation accelerates, we will be to then cover that and adjust our plans to this point, we feel good where we are and with the plans that we have and mix, which is a very important part of our revenue strategy is compounded on these numbers. So we look at the last quarter 1 was very good. Quarter 3 was good as well. And this is a structural benefit on our revenue management the fact that we are investing on the mega brands, our investment choices on growing segments that are more profitable, such as nonalcohol premium and Jon be. Of course, they add to our revenue that should continue to move with inflation.

And Celine, Fernando here, just to add on Michel's comments, Michel mentioned the SG&A, the advertisement expenses. Every year is unique in a sense. But given our hedging policy, we always have good visibility when we go into the year. So we knew that this year, we're going to have more sales and market concentrated around the World Cup. And we also knew that given the hedging policy and FX movements, we know that from a cost of goods sold standpoint, to have more pressures on the H1, particularly in Mexico and Brazil rather than H2. But given that we know of that when we start the year, we took some proactive measures in both revenue and cost management agenda to better balance the year. What I mean better balance of the year is H1 versus H2. So on the things that we can control, we try to smooth out some of the impacts that we already anticipate going to the year.

Our next questions come from the line of Mitch Collett with Deutsche Bank.

My first question, I guess, follows on from that last comment. So how should we think about the phasing of 1H and 2H EBITDA growth, given what you just said about the phasing of transactional FX, but also maybe some of the other factors like the Midwest premium and also your sales and marketing investment, which sounds like it's going to be still reasonably concentrated in Q2 and Q3, which is I think what you said at the full year call. And then my second question is on the 5 markets that you call out, where you've reached record high first quarter volumes. I appreciate there may be some phasing within that, but it certainly seems very counter to the prevailing narrative of alcohol consumption and beer being under pressure. So -- are there any commonalities between those markets that you haven't already covered in your answers to the other questions?

Mitch, Fernando here. Let me start with the first one. what I said, and maybe it's good to reinforce is that we understand kind of COGS dynamics, given our hedging and we know more or less how they are going to behave. We know that probably the biggest pressures in half 1 maybe even more a little bit towards Q1 and then they start easing off as the months go by. Knowing that you can already be proactive in revenue and cost management initiatives to counterbalance some of these effects. To the same token, we know that as the cost pressures on the cost will start easing up, you know that you are ramping up sales and marketing because of the World Cup. So all in all, we expect kind of a more balanced year when you go all the way to the end, even though the lines, you should see different components between the lines, which are the dynamics that we are ready new once we started the year.

Yes. And taking on your second question, Helmich, thanks for the question. So first, I think that we mentioned this because we believe it is an important data point for investors and for all of you guys. And those are meaningful markets like Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, and we have many others that reached an all-time high volume. You are right. So there is a benefit from Easter. So think about invest from 30 to 50 bps of the growth coming from the shift of Easter in quarter 1 versus quarter 2 last year. Nevertheless, all these markets grew north of that. So they grew more than the thesis. And what is common across this market twofold. One, as we keep saying, is structurally, the key fundamentals behind the beer category that are demographics that are economic growth and the opportunities for the category to have higher participation, they remain in place. And even though the dynamics of each quarter will always be different, and we have seen everything in the last 4 years. those fundamental dynamics do not change. Second, our strategy is a growth strategy, and we keep working on the key elements of our growth strategy, invest to the long term, and this is obviously paying off as our portfolio gets stronger on the areas that have more growth. So in all these areas, you see strong core brands, maintaining or gaining participation in the category. You see premium brands growing and improving access to consumers in different occasions. You see our beyond beer brands, expanding the set of consumers that we bring into our portfolio. And last but not least, in nonalcohol as a new avenue for growth, a strong growth across all these markets. So it's a global strategy that has been well executed locally on our markets that has long-term investments and choices that we make, so we optimize these investments. And while every quarter, we'll have its own dynamics, it's good to see that back end of last year was good. Quarter 1 was solid. And this, I think, that helps to neutralize or to put in context what we call different narratives around the category because at the end of the day, beer is bits, is growing, is gaining share of growth globally -- it's a category that's part of people's life for every moment of celebration for more than 5,000 years and is not going anywhere, to be honest. If you look towards the summer now, it's going in a very good direction, we see FIFA being celebrated globally.

Our next questions come from the line of Simon Hales with Citi.

My first question was just a quick clarification really on the Q1 volume shipments that we saw. I just wanted just to check that within those numbers, there wasn't any shipments ahead of the World Cup into some of your key markets, I think particularly some of the strength we saw in Latin America. There was nothing -- there's no trade loading. I suppose is the underlying question there. And then secondly, I just wonder if you could just talk a little bit more about the performance of Brazil in the quarter, how the business evolved through the period and how you exited Q1. And particularly given that strength of volume growth in the premium segment, how confident are you in your ability to sustain growth at those sort of levels going forward given that's quite a competitive any sort of category you're involved in that?

Simon, thanks for the questions. So in terms of shipments, the answer is very clear. No, And to make this more clear, we disclosed that, for example, in the U.S., we undership, so we sold more than what we ship it to wholesalers. And the buildup for the World Cup will really happen more towards June, then we could have done anything in the quarter 1. So no shipments ahead of time. This buildup should really be at the back end of quarter 2, not sooner than that. And in terms of Brazil, I always go back to the point in Brazil that is a very competitive market, and we have very strong operations in Brazil, but we've been adjusting our portfolio over the last 4 years. And we are very confident that we have strong brands now being executed in the right way. as we rebalance a bit more having a strong mainstream business, but also strong premium brands. These brands now are growing and gaining share with accelerated momentum. So the quarter 1 had a little bit of everything because the quarter 1 in Brazil had like an excellent carnival, but then a very wet period at beginning of January and during March. So it was more really market share gains in the right segments, especially premium and super premium. And I think that this now as we look forward in Brazil, we'll come to same momentum behind our brands, and we are investing to continue to gain share and solidify our position there in premium. The calendar for Brazil is very supportive for the year. So there is many holidays that are extended holidays in Brazil this year. And at the middle of the year, we're going to have the World Cup, so let's hope for the best with the Brazilian team, so we can have some good moments of celebration there in Brazil. And we'll continue to work to make this portfolio stronger. to maintain the level of execution that we have there, which has been very good in the last couple of quarters. And innovation has been playing a big role in Brazil. So we have some very strong products that we innovated in the last couple of quarters and years that are doing very well, and we are rolling out Fine Fish in Brazil, which is a big bet as well in the beer that can add plenty of consumers to the portfolio of brands that we have and even more occasions for us to be close to consumers and to moments of celebration there. So we feel good, of course, we need to continue to monitor the industry while controlling what we can control, which is our own agenda and portfolio that in Brazil. Thank you.

Our next questions come from the line of Richard Withagen with Kepler.

I have a question on Corona. I mean the activation appears to have been very solid around your Olympics. So maybe can you explain a bit what has worked well in execution and what was less solid than you expected? And what takeaways do you have from this to also execute well during the World Cup?

Thank you, Richard. So the Olympics was very important for us as a platform to launch globally and really grow the Corona set proposition globally. And this so far is working very well for both sides. for the Corona brand because we now are present in many countries. Corona Cero is growing globally very well. And we just this quarter now became leaders in value globally, and we took the leadership now in 7 out of the top [ 14 ] market, and we continue to grow the portfolio overall double digits and is working very well in Corona as well as Mike of Ultra in the U.S., which is the brand we are using for Olympics in the U.S. One of the most astonishing statistics from all of that was to see during the winter Olympics in Italy, Corona and our alcohol, the regular and alco having 60% share of all beverages being sold in the concessionaries around the events. So 60% when you include everything from water to softer drinks to coffee, and that was during the winter index. So it's 1 more proof point that people really enjoy that beer and sports go well together and offering choices to consumers. regular Corona and 0 Alpacorona is a winning proposition for everybody out there. When you think about that with the World Cup, I think that it goes back to the point that we are leveraging global scale. So we activated the Dometic globally as we always did FIFA and we'll do again during the summer now with FIFA. We want to be on the anticipation of the games, so people can prepare for cut for those that will watch the game at home with family and friends. We want to make a huge push on part because the bars will be the places where people will get together to watch the games, and there is nothing like watching your team around friends and family on a nice bar over a cold one. So we're going to make a big push to support our partners so they can offer the best experience on the bars. And of course, we'll be working in the local markets from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada to make sure that everybody that's coming to watch the games, we have a great experience in these states. and make sure that the concessions are well equipped to deliver great experience there on the part that we can control, which is the year. So it's great to see the mega platforms working, the key behind that is the scale that we have, the ability to execute globally and the ROI and business been very good because the brands are executing very well and consumers are giving their hope to the brands that we are using. So thanks for the question.

Our next questions come from the line of Chris Pitcher with Roth Charles & Company.

I can ask about South Africa. There's been a lot of focus today on the strength of your portfolio and the mix that's coming through, particularly from revenue management. But in South Africa, it looks like revenue per hectoliter was below the rate of inflation despite, I believe, a stronger performance from beyond bar products, which should, in theory, be accretive to mix. Can you give a bit more detail on why revenue per hectoliter was a bit more subdued in South Africa? And then could I just confirm India looks like it was up about 30%. It was probably 1 of your top 3 volume contribution markets. it gets a specific reference from Bud Asia, but not from you guys yet, but it looks like it could well be into a period now where it's contributing to group growth, and it looks like it's moved into profit. Could I confirm both of those?

Yes, Chris, thank you for the question. So South Africa, great momentum, all-time high volume for the quarter 1 with beer. Our Beyond beer portfolio is growing very well. We have our revenue genes that are working well around phasing through the year. on the pricing and the investments that we've been making, both in terms of sales and marketing. So we are very confident that the agenda will continue to work well there and have been working over the years. As a matter of fact, our prices are in place, and there is a health revenue coming from this price there. When you think about India, we comment about that in some of the calls, and I thank you for asking the question because given the opportunity to talk a little bit more about India here, too many countries that we often talk about. So India has been a great story in which the industry has been growing consistently, some ups and downs. But when you look more and you take the long-term is an industry that's been growing high single digits, almost double digits. Quarter 1 happened to be a double-digit industry is a place where we have an incredible portfolio of brands is today a top 5 market for Budweiser globally and becoming like a top 3 this year probably. But wise, it has strong growth momentum there our share is approaching 20% of the market with organic growth mostly on the premium and super premium segments. So the brands are working very well. Our growth was really strong, was above 30%, as you mentioned, and we keep investing to the long term. And as the industry continues to expand per capita is very low, so the heavy room for growth is immense, and the strength of our portfolio there is something that we have been building for over 10 years now. So we are really playing the long-term gains there, and we are happen execution. That's way more that we can do to improve the industry collectively because it's not a 1 player game for this industry to unlock there. But on our side, portfolio is strong. Momentum is good. Execution is very good, and the team is locked in pursuing our 10-year plan ambition there and transform this in a meaningful market for EVA. So good business, good portfolio, profitability improving but a very long game that we're playing there because per capita is still very low. And as people get welfare as the barriers around the industry is starting to be unlocked that's a huge future growth opportunities for all of us. Thanks for the question.

Our final questions will come from the line of Trevor Stirling with Bernstein.

Just 1 from my side, please. I was really struck by the continued very strong growth in Bs in particular on the platform and the 3P side of the business. And I'm just wondering, maybe 1 more for Fernando. Is that starting to be a meaningful contributor to your revenue per hectoliter growth in Brazil? Or is it still a little bit too small to move the needle?

Trevor. So yes, it's a good growth kind of the business is growing well. It's -- as we said, it's a business that is positive in EBITDA, positive in cash flow. But is it still -- I think all the other components are far more relevant so far as contributors to the net revenues per antitrade, Michel?

Yes. Just maybe to add on your point, Trevor. The growth continues to accelerate on this marketplace. And just to ground but around that bit which is selling through the platform, third-party products is where we see most of the growth. And in this case, we are still scratching the surface, we know that the total addressable market is a multiple of what we are capturing today. And of course, this 50%, 60% growth that we have is a way for us to continue to get more of that. As Fernando said, cash is positive, abuses positive and the margin of the 3P is very big. But today, it's a small component of the overall business and growing 1 over time. So it's -- the most mix that we see today is mix from brands that comes from premiumization and from tone. But as time goes by, this will become a more meaningful contributor on this mix components of our revenue growth.

Thank you. This was the final question. If your question has not been answered, please feel free to contact the Investor Relations team. I will now turn the floor back over to Mr. Michel Dutaras for closing remarks.

Thank you, and thank you, everyone, for your time today for the ongoing partnership and support of our business. I hope that you are doing well for those in the north preparing for summer and grabbing some beer to cheers. And for everybody else, of course, join us on the excitement for FIFA, that's right around the corner and for a great summer, great gains and great moments of celebrations. So cheers.

Thank you. This concludes today's earnings conference call and webcast. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.