No Evidence of Trade Down in U.S., Says ABI Chief

Dear Client: Usually there's not too much U.S. color on Anheuser-Busch InBev earnings calls. But yesterday, many analysts probed on inflationary trends, pricing, and lower-priced brand performance for its U.S. business.  (Recall, the company reported Q2 shipments down 2.7% and depletions down 3.4%, which slightly underperformed the industry. But revenue was up 2.7%, and revs per hecto up more than twice that.)  Someone asked whether the “recent pickup”  of “lower price” brands like Busch Light in the U.S. was a