UBS: BUD APAC (01876) beats expectations in Q1 performance, rated "buy"

UBS released a research report stating that the first quarter revenue/normalized EBITDA of BUD APAC (01876) was 1.493 billion US dollars/4.63 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%/8.1% respectively, better than the bank's and market consensus expectations of 3-6%. The decrease in revenue was mainly due to a slight increase in sales volume year-on-year of 0.1% and a decrease in average selling price year-on-year of 0.8%. The year-on-year decrease in normalized EBITDA profit margin was 2.2 percentage points, mainly attributed to the year-on-year increase of 1.2 percentage points in sales, general, and administrative expenses ratio. UBS set a target price of 8.6 Hong Kong dollars for BUD APAC and maintained a "buy" rating. UBS mentioned that it participated in the BUD APAC conference call. Looking forward to the full year of 2026, the management reiterated that sales volume growth is a top priority, and also mentioned that raw material costs for 2026 have been largely hedged, and they plan to improve operational efficiency through cost control measures.