(Reuters) -Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) posted a 4% drop in its nine-month operating earnings on Thursday, weighed down by continued weakness in its spirits division, along with a dip in its non-alcoholic beverages and food segments.
The spirits business’ earnings, which accounted for nearly half of the total during the reporting period, saw a 5.4% drop, while non-alcoholic beverages EBITDA fell 6.3%, both affected by increased brand investment and marketing expenses.
The Singapore-listed company has been struggling to increase profits amid weak consumer spending, rising costs and occasional dips in its top-performing segments in the post-pandemic years.
While challenging market conditions in Vietnam weighed on the sales revenue of ThaiBev’s beer division, a decrease in key raw material costs and an improvement in production efficiency lifted the division’s EBITDA by 4%.
The Bangkok-based firm’s nine-month sales revenue remained steady at 258.62 billion baht ($7.98 billion), supported by stable spirits division revenue, while the food division’s sales declined by 1.4% due to reduced consumer spending and demand.
The absence of one-off contributions, including title sales and licensing income, which boosted the previous year’s results, further weighed on the group’s nine-month earnings.
ThaiBev, which brews the popular Chang beer, reported EBITDA of 45.03 billion baht for the nine months ending June 30, down from 46.88 billion baht the previous year.
($1 = 32.3300 baht)
(Reporting by Sherin Sunny and Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
