Molson Coors full-year sales fall as on-trade restrictions bite

Molson Coors has reported an 8.7% decrease in net sales in its 2020 full-year results, as on-trade restrictions in markets such as Europe significantly impacted volume sales.

The major alcohol firm – which owns brands such as Coors Light, Vizzy Hard Seltzer and Cobra Beer – reported that its net sales for the year ended 31 December 2020 had declined to $9.65 billion, a 8.7% fall when compared to the $10.57 billion figure recorded in the prior year.

The company also registered a significant decline in operating income, as Molson Coors reported an operating loss of $408.9 million for the full-year, compared to operating profit of $764.4 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2019.

Molson Coors attributed the declines in revenue and profit to ongoing on-trade restrictions in several markets – particularly in Europe – due to the Covid-19 pandemic; lower financial volume; keg sales returns and other coronavirus-related costs.

Despite the fall in revenue and profit, Molson Coors president and CEO Gavin Hattersley claimed that the company’s revitalisation plan – which has seen the company streamline its organisation, rebrand as Molson Coors Beverage Company and explore new product categories such as hard seltzer to grow ‘beyond the beer aisle’ – was ‘progressing strongly.’

Hattersley said: “The revitalisation plan we announced in October 2019 positioned our company well to weather the storms of 2020. We built on the strength of our iconic core and in the second half of 2020, we achieved a record high portion of our US portfolio in above premium products.

“We expanded beyond the beer aisle and we set the stage to build our emerging growth division into a $1 billion revenue business by 2023. We invested in our capabilities while supporting our people and our communities.”

Investment in hard seltzer and new beverage categories forms a key part of this strategy. This was demonstrated by the company’s announcement in December 2020 that it would increase production capacity for its Vizzy, Coors Seltzer and Blue Moon LightSky products by more than 400% at its Fort Worth and Milwaukee breweries to meet the growing demand for these products.