Anheuser Busch Inbev, which makes one out of every four beers drunk in the world, reported a 32-percent global sales decline in April, compared with just a 9.3 drop in the year’s first quarter.
The company warned that the second quarter’s results will be “materially worse” than the first’s, in which AB Inbev lost $2.25 billion.
U.S. sales have bucked the trend, with people idling at home spending 20 percent more on beer than before the economic shutdown. Those extra sales have more than offset the loss of sales to the nation’s shuttered bars and restaurants.
The company also reported improved sales in China, where purchases in April declined just 17 percent from the previous April, contrasting with a 46.5-percent plunge in this year’s first quarter.
The figures boosted AB Inbev’s share price in Europe by 1.4 percent on 7 May.
