NEW YORK — Higher beer prices weren’t enough to safeguard Molson Coors Brewing Co. from the stronger dollar, high commodity costs and declining sales volumes of Miller Lite and other brands, leading the brewer to report a lower profit for its fourth quarter Tuesday.
Denver-based Molson, which partially owns the Mil ler brands in the U.S. through a joint venture with London brewer SABMiller, said its financial results were hurt the most by the strength of the dollar, which turned sales in foreign currencies into less revenue once they were translated into dollars.
But lower sales volumes of Miller Lite and other brands in the U.S., Canada and Britain also took a toll.
Chief executive Peter Swinburn said that drinkers may have balked at higher prices for Mil ler Lite in the U.S., where consumers have been hard hit by rising unemployment and a more- than-year-long recession.
To boost sales of the brand, Molson plans to unveil a new ad campaign at the end of the month. Swinburn declined to offer details but said it will likely focus on “taste.”
For the quarter ended Dec. 28, profit fell 44 percent to $96.8 million, or 52 cents per share, from $173.2 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier.
Once discontinued operations and charges related to the joint venture and other items are stripped out, profit was $105.1 million, or 57 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time costs, expected profit of 71 cents per share.
The brewer said total revenue fell 49 percent to $1.10 billion, but that number does not include sales from the joint venture.
