From an owner’s perspective, the advantage of having 3G operate your business is that a higher percentage of revenues become net profits that can be paid out to shareholders as dividends free and clear. The downside is that you cannot cut your way to prosperity, and eventually, you have to come up with growth initiatives.
Let’s look at what 3G did to Anheuser Busch since taking over. Even though the ADR of Anheuser-Busch began trading on July 1st, 2009, I am going to compare 2010 to 2015 because the 2009 recession distorts the picture of what 3G management does because the demand was unusually low for Anheuser-Busch products that year.
In 2010, Anheuser-Busch sold $36 billion in beer. It made $4.0 billion in profits. About 11% of revenues went to the bottom line as net profits. This is essentially a snapshot of what Anheuser-Busch looked like when it … Read the rest of this article!