Beer party era could be over

Brewing giant hopes for growth in Africa and Asia as major markets in US and Brazil begin to feel saturated

There hasn’t been much froth on the AB Inbev share price in recent months.

Investor sentiment had gone flat as analysts feared digesting Sabmiller was proving tougher than expected. Could it be that this acquisition machine had bitten off more than it could chew?

The share price slid south as concerns grew that untapped African and Asian markets would have to compensate for the steady degradation of the group’s two most important profit sources, the US and Brazil.

There was a growing fear that the world’s dominant beer group was a one-trick pony — relying on post-acquisition cost-cutting to grow profits. The Sabmiller deal meant this particular strategy had run out of road; from here on there could only be a few bolt-on acquisitions.

AB Inbev would have to learn some new tricks.

The better-than-expected financial 2017 results appear to have settled some of the jitters, at least for now. An overwhelming 27 of the 37 analysts covering AB Inbev rated it a “buy” and expected the share to gain 21.9% in a year.

A further eight analysts are recommending a “hold” and just two have tagged it a “sell”.

The share price, which had moved off its two-year low in the week before the results were released, ticked up nicely on last week’s announcement.

It is now 9% off that low in mid-february but

AB Inbev