A-B Has Tough Quarter

Anheuser-Busch reported that in the first quarter of 2007, domestic U.S. beer shipments rose 0.5%, which includes 1.2% points from new import brands. Sales to retailers (STRs) rose 0.1% which includes 1.7% points from imports. Distributor inventories were a half day lower than last year. VOLUME DISAPPOINTING. So all in, A-B's apples-to-apples organic shipments were down 0.7% against a tough comparison of +4.6% last year. A-B lost 0.7 points of market share, which closely coincides with the share losses reported