Anheuser-Busch InBev has reported forecast-beating fourth-quarter profits and progress in cutting debts that have hung over the company for a decade, sending its shares up 8 per cent on Wednesday even as China weakness dragged on sales.

The Budweiser brewer reported earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, boosted by higher prices and improvements in the U.S. that offset lingering weakness in China.

AB InBev beat Q4 revenue forecasts with $14.84B in sales, driven by premium beer and non-beer growth, despite a 1.9% decline in volumes.

Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev on Wednesday reported forecast-beating fourth quarter profits, even as a slowdown in the Chinese beer market dragged volumes down.

Revenues climbed 3.4% in Q4 and 2.7%, to $59.8bn (£47.3bn) in FY24, with growth in Mexico, the US, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa and Europe helping to offset sales declines in China. Revenue per hl, meanwhile, rose by 5.5% in the quarter and 4.3% across FY24.

AB InBev said its Michelob Ultra brand gained more U.S. market share than any other beer over the second half of 2024.

AB InBev, the world's leading brewer whose portfolio includes Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, said revenue hit a record level in 2024 although beer volumes slid. That came despite sales sliding 1.