Coors Light helps boost SABMiller joint venture

FTSE 100 brewer SABMiller reported a good showing from its joint venture MillerCoors, with Coors Light beer helping to drive sales.

SAB, whose brands include Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch, said revenues at MillerCoors had increased 9.1% to $436m.

Total net sales at the joint venture with the Molson Coors Brewing Company increased 4.3% to $2.2bn.

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The firm said MillerCoors' domestic sales to retailers were down 1.4%, a slight improvement versus the first quarter trend.

It said the U.S. economic environment remained challenging while unemployment among its key consumer demographics worsened.

Domestic sales-to-wholesalers increased 0.3%.

"As our major summer marketing programs kicked off during the second quarter, we saw sequential improvement in retail sales on our premium light brands, highlighted by the strong growth of Coors Light," said MillerCoors Chief Executive Tom Long.

"We also delivered double digit growth from Tenth and Blake as we scale brands like Blue Moon and Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy to meet changing consumer tastes."

Blue Moon and Leinenkugel are part of the 'craft segement' of the market, and are 'handcrafted' products that replicate the image of beers from small independent breweries.

Some beer enthusiasts have voiced concerns that the success of these brands could drive smaller producers out of business.