Faqs

Ambev is the largest brewer in Latin America in terms of sales volumes and one of the largest beer producers in the world, according to our estimates.

Ambev produces, distributes and sells beer, carbonated soft drinks and other non-alcoholic and non-carbonated products in 18 countries across the Americas, as well as is the owner of two beer brands that are among the 10 most consumed in the world: Skol and Brahma.

We are one of the largest PepsiCo independent bottlers in the world.

The history and evolution of mergers and acquisitions of the Company are described on the IR website – Overview/History.

Currently Ambev has operations in countries: Antigua, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Vincent and Uruguay.

Ambev and Anheuser-Busch InBev are independent companies, each one with its own management. ABI is one of the controlling shareholders of Ambev, holding approximately 62% of the Company’s capital stock.

The Company maintains a licensing agreement with Anheuser-Busch, Inc., to produce, bottle, sell and distribute Budweiser products in Brazil, Canada and Argentina, and sales and distribution agreements of Budweiser products in Guatemala, in Dominican Republic, in Paraguay, in El Salvador, in Nicaragua, in Uruguay, in Chile, in Panama, in Costa Rica e in Puerto Rico.

The Company and ABI have also been parties to a reciprocal licensing agreement, whereby the Company is authorized to manufacture, package, market, and distribute beer under the Stella Artois and Beck’s brands in Latin America and Canada, exclusively, and ABI is allowed to produce, package, market, and distribute beer under the Brahma brands in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States, also exclusively. Thus, since 2005, the Company produces Stella Artois in Brazil and ABI produces Brahma in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Finland and Greece, among others.

The Company also has a licensing agreement with Grupo Modelo, S. de R.L. de C.V. (formerly known as Grupo Modelo S.A.B. de C.V.), an ABI subsidiary, to import, promote, and resell Corona products (Corona Extra, Corona Light, Coronita, Pacifico, and Negra Modelo) in Latin America, including Brazil, as well as in Canada.

An ABI subsidiary, Metal Container Corp. is one of the Company’s can suppliers.

The Company has an agreement with PepsiCo International, Inc. (“PepsiCo”) to bottle, sell and distribute Pepsi products in Brazil and in other Latin American countries, including Pepsi Cola, 7Up, Lipton Ice Tea, Gatorade and H2OH!.

It is the name the Company uses to refer to our non-alcohol beverages (NAB) business

LAS (Latin America South) is the region that includes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and, prior to December 31, 2016, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

CAC (Central America and the Caribbean) includes Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent, Antigua, Dominica, Cuba, Guatemala, Barbados and, after December 31, 2016, Panama.

Find below the breakdown of Ambev’s 2018 volumes and EBITDA per operation:

Volume

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EBITDA

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Net Revenue

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Find below a list of our main production facilities per country in December 31, 2016:

In December 31, 2018 Ambev had close to 50 thousand employees in total, of which approximately 30 thousand were in Brazil, 7 thousand in CAC, 3 thousand in Canada and 10 thousand in the operations in Latin America South.

The functional and reporting currency of Ambev is the BRL (Brazilian Real).

Ambev’s consolidated and statutory financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial and Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the accounting practices adopted in Brazil released by the committee of accounting practices (“CPC – Comitê de Pronunciamentos Contábeis”) and approved by the CVM. The consolidated financial statements are reported in IFRS since 2008 and the statutory statements since 2010.

In the year end of 2018, the Ambev’s total production capacity was of 270.1 million of hectoliters including beer and non-alcohol beverages.

Demographics, disposable income growth and innovation are the main drivers for the long term growth of beer and soft drinks industries in Brazil. Looking at the short term, we identify that the main drivers which impact the beer and soft drinks industries growth in Brazil are: price to consumer, disposable income and weather (temperature and rains).

The weight of direct distribution through our direct distribution centers (versus distribution through third-party distributors) in Brazil volumes varies monthly, but currently is between 70% and 75% of Brazil total volumes.

The weight of returnable packages (versus one-way packages) in Brazil Beer volumes varies monthly, but on average currently corresponds to 50% of volumes.

Nowadays on average 55% of our Brazil volumes is on premise and 45% is off premise.

Approximately 20% of our COGS in Brazil correspond to fixed costs and industrial assets depreciation. The remaining 80% are variable costs, of which the main components are described below:

Beer Brazil: currently on average 45% of our variable cost is can, 15% is malt, 8% is adjuncts and 8% is labor, the remainder is spread amongst many other components.

NAB Brazil: currently on average 25% of the variable cost is sugar, 25% is PET resin, 20% is can and 10% labor, the remainder is spread amongst many other components.

Around 50% of our gross cost is exposed to USD, mostly because the commodities prices are in USD.

The Company has Risk Management policy, which defines our hedge program, according to which we seek to be covered on average 12 months forward from the current month for our exposure in currency and the main commodities that impact our COGS (cost of goods sold). We have the flexibility of two months, so we can execute hedge contracts from 10 to 14 months ahead.

This hedge policy aims to mitigate our exposure to risks related to the prices of commodities and to currency devaluation and to provide us time to adapt our structure in case there is a significant variation on prices in the market. Decisions regarding hedging are made according to our risk management policy, taking into consideration the amount and duration of the exposure, market volatility and economic trends.

Ambev has its shares traded in the B3 S.A. – Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão and in the NYSE – New York Exchange though American Depositary Receipts – ADRs.

The shares, all common, are traded in B3 S.A. with the ticker ABEV3 and in the NYSE with the ticker ABEV.

ADR means American Depositary Receipt and is the share receipt of a company outside of the US, issued and under the custody of a North American bank. It is a trading instrument created to make it possible for securities issuers from other countries to follow the North American terms and regulation for securities registration, and to make it easier for the investors in the US to receive dividends. The price of an ADR is generally close to the stock price in its original market, adjusted by the ratio between the ADR and the original share (Ambev’s ratio is 1 ADR = 1 original share). The individual shares represented by an ADR are called American Depositary Shares (ADS).

Ambev has ADRs Level II listed in the NYSE. The Level II ADR program requires the company to fully register according to the Securities Act and also to release all of the information required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Bradesco is the depositary bank for Ambev shares in Brazil and The Bank of New York Mellon is the depositary bank for Ambev ADRs in US.

The depositary agent is responsible for the bookkeeping of the shares, the records of shareholders, the update and tracking of payments of outlays and the exercise of rights and receipt of amounts distributed by the Company.

In order to invest in Ambev stocks, the person interested should look for a stockbroker that is able to give him/her support and intermediate the negotiation on the stock market. In order to obtain a list of brokerage firms with contact information, go to the B3 website (http://www.b3.com.br) in the section Product and Services > Membership > Participant Search > Broker Search.

The shares can be held by:

• The stockbrokerage in which they have been bought, that will become fully responsible for the payment of dividends/interest on own capital as well as for the information necessary to file the income statement or;
• The entry book system of Banco Bradesco, responsible for the remittance of data at no cost to the customer. In this case the shareholders will have the benefit of the automatic credit of dividends to their bank account of choice.

The amount of shares in the market is periodically updated in the IR website – Shareholder Information/Listings.

Yes. In October 2000 and December 2010 there were stock splits of 1 to 5.

Yes. On June 29, 2007, at an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, shareholders approved a reverse stock split of our common and preferred shares at a ratio of 100 existing shares to 1 share of the capital stock after the stock grouping, without change to the total capital stock. As of August 2, 2007, the Company’s shares, already grouped, were traded based on a per share price instead of in round lots of 1,000 shares.

Yes. In May, 2005 there was a bonus of 1 common share granted for each 5 common or preferred shares held, in other words, the shareholder received in common shares 20% of the total number of shares held.

In order to access information about the dividends policy and the updated Ambev payout history access the IR website – Shareholders Information/Payout.

In case you want to receive email notifications when Ambev publishes its earnings or sends other communications to the market you can register at our IR website – Subscribe to Email Alert.