MillerCoors quarterly profit jumps on lower costs
LONDON (Reuters) - SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Co reported sharply higher fourth-quarter profit for their U.S. joint venture MillerCoors on Thursday, due in part to lower advertising, pension and employee benefit costs.
The company that sells beers such as Miller Lite and Coors Lite in the United States said underlying profit jumped 30 percent to $241.9 million (145.2 million pounds) in the fourth quarter. It cited a 12 percent decline in marketing, general and administrative costs due to a shift in timing of advertising spending and employee benefit related expenses.
For the full year, profit rose 5.5 percent, while net sales rose 0.5 percent.
Net sales rose 1 percent for the quarter.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
