(Yicai Global) March 3 -- Shares of Budweiser Brewing Company APAC fell after Asia’s biggest beer maker by sales said revenue from China dipped last year. It also said demand began to recover well in China last month as all sales channels have almost fully reopened following the country’s easing of Covid-19 controls.

Budweiser APAC [HKG: 1876], the Asia-Pacific arm of Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, closed 3.7 percent lower at HKD23.75 (USD3.03) in Hong Kong today, after rising by as much as 1 percent in early trading.

Revenue from China dropped 4.2 percent in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 from the year before, the Hong Kong-based company’s annual financial report showed yesterday. Sales by volume dipped 3 percent amid Covid-19 restrictions.

But China sales by volume jumped more than 20 percent in February from a year ago after most of its restaurant and nightlife channels reopened, Jan Craps, Budweiser APAC’s co-chair and chief executive, said on an earnings conference call yesterday.

Normalized earnings from across Asia fell 12.3 percent to USD859 million last year, according to the report. Revenue rose 2.4 percent to USD6.5 billion, as weak demand in China was offset by stronger sales in South Korea and India, it noted.

Income from the company’s Premium and Super Premium beers in China was higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019 as Budweiser APAC continued to expand its largest key market, the report said.

Premiumization is Budweiser's core strategy, especially in China, where the number of middle-income households, the target group for Premium and Super Premium, is expected to increase four-fold by 2030, Craps said.

As of the end of last year, Budweiser’s distribution expanded to 201 Chinese cities from 184 the year earlier, and it has plans to reach 250 by the end of 2025, it noted.

Editor: Martin Kadiev