E-Malt.com News article: 2174

Mexico: Modelo, Mexico's largest brewer, sees local sales volumes up between 2 % and 3 % this year, in tandem with an expected expansion in the economy, a company spokesman told Reuters on February 9. "For domestic sales volumes growth, we have an estimate of between 2 percent and 3 percent which is based on the outlook for GDP (gross domestic product)," Jose Pares, head of Modelo's investor relations, told Reuters.

The outlook for 2004 is similar to the increase in domestic sales that Modelo had last year. In the first nine months of the year, Modelo's sales volumes rose 3.3 percent to 31.2 million hectoliters (a hectoliter equals 100 liters).

Around 70 % of Modelo's revenues come from domestic sales. Its main rival in the Mexican beer market is Femsa. Mexico's government expects the local economy to expand 3.1 percent this year up from the estimated 1.2 percent growth in 2003. Pares said Modelo, half owned by the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., did not have a forecasts for how export volumes would turn out this year. "There's no guidance at the moment, there's no number, we still do not have an official export forecast," Pares said.


11 February, 2004