Upload
vuongnguyet
View
217
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Corrected Transcript
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
Total Pages: 31 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
14-Feb-2017
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP)
Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
2 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Stewart F. Glendinning President & Chief Executive Officer-Molson Coors International, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Simon Cox President & CEO-Molson Coors Europe, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
OTHER PARTICIPANTS
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC
Stephen R. Powers Analyst, UBS Securities LLC
Laurent Grandet Analyst, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Broker)
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.
Andrew Holland Analyst, Société Générale SA (UK)
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Aatish Shah Analyst, Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
3 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION SECTION
Operator: Welcome to the Molson Coors Brewing Company Fourth Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call. All
participants will be in listen only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an
opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions]
Before we begin, I will paraphrase the company's Safe Harbor language. Some of the discussion today may
include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from what the company projects today,
so please refer to its most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings for a more complete description of factors that could affect
these projections. The company does not undertake to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.
Regarding any non-U.S. GAAP measures that may be discussed during the call and from time to time by the
company's executives in discussing the company's performance, please visit the company's website at
www.molsoncoors.com and click on the Financial Reporting tab of the Investor Relations page for a reconciliation
of these measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP results. Also, unless otherwise indicated, all financial results the
company discusses are versus the comparable prior-year [ph] prior (01:37) and in U.S. dollars.
Now, I would like to turn the call over to Mark Hunter, President and CEO of Molson Coors. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Thank you, Andrea, hello and welcome everybody to the Molson Coors earnings call, and many thanks for joining
us today.
With me on the call this morning from Molson Coors, we have: Tracey Joubert, our Global CFO; Gavin Hattersley,
CEO of our U.S. business; Fred Landtmeters, our Canada CEO; Simon Cox, the CEO of our Europe business;
Stewart Glendinning, our International CEO; Sam Walker, our Global Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer,
and Brian Tabolt, our Global Controller; and last but not least, Dave Dunnewald, our VP of Investor Relations.
On the call today, Tracey and I will take you through the highlights of our full year and fourth quarter 2016 results
from the Molson Coors Brewing Company, along with some perspectives on 2017. Clearly, the biggest news for
2016 was completing our acquisition of the remaining 58% of MillerCoors and the Miller global brand portfolio for
$12 billion, representing the largest transaction in our company's history, which made Molson Coors the third-
largest global brewer.
We also retained the rights to all of the brands that were in the MillerCoors portfolio in the U.S. and Puerto Rico,
including Redd's and import brands such as Peroni, Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell. The transaction was completed
at 9.2 times effective purchase multiple, including the present value of cash tax benefits. Additionally, we will be
driving substantial cost synergies in the next three years, and we continue to expect this transaction to be
significantly accretive to underlying earnings in the first full year of operations.
With the completion of the transaction and the changes we are making to align and enhance our organization, the
building blocks are in place for our company to drive top-line growth, profit, cash generation, debt pay-down, and
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
4 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
total shareholder returns in the years ahead. Led by our First Choice for Consumers and Customers agenda,
these building blocks are grouped into four key areas.
First, our organization and brands are all under one roof for the first time. We've also reset our performance
incentives around growth in sales, specifically volume and revenue per hectoliter, profit, cash and profit after
capital charge, or PACC, to help ensure top to bottom alignment with our key priorities and, of course, those of
our investors, including driving total shareholder return and performance towards our committed deleverage
targets.
Secondly, our consumer excellence approach. Our global brand portfolio of Coors, Miller and Staropramen,
supported by our national champion, craft and specialty brands, now gives a platform for accelerating
performance outside of our core developed markets over time. Within our largest markets, we now have more
opportunities to lift and shift our highest potential brands, greatest platforms, commercial ideas and innovations to
drive growth and value.
We remain absolutely focused on driving improvements in our core brand performance in the U.S. and Canada in
particular. Outside of North America, Coors Light continues to grow volume at double-digit rates through 2016 and
our largest brand was almost flat globally. Our Europe business increased retail volume and market share in the
past year and our International business grew strong volume growth and high potential markets in Latin America
and Asia Pacific.
Thirdly, our customer excellence approach. We are investing heavily in sales capability and execution
improvement, including a suite of leading-edge sales technology and tools. Supported by our new global
commercial team and First Choice learning center, we've rolled this approach across all of our markets and are
excited about the promise of this effort to drive incremental revenue, margin and profit.
The key metric we use to evaluate our customer engagement is our Net Promoter Score, or NPS, and we're
already making great strides in improving our NPS performance across all of our markets. In fact, for the first time
in its history, MillerCoors finished number one in the most recent Tamarron Supplier Survey, which polls hundreds
of U.S. distributors in rating the performance of beer, wine and spirit suppliers. We're building stronger
partnerships by providing beer expertise, customer-centric solutions, and industry-leading service and results.
Progress is also reflected in other customer awards our teams have recently won, including the number one
supplier ranking in the UK's Advantage Chain Retail Survey, Supplier of the Year across all categories by Tesco,
the biggest retailer in the UK, and a Supplier of the Year award from Boston Pizza, the largest on-premise chain
in Canada.
As one organization, we're lifting and shifting the best disciplines in customer solutions across markets, including
bringing our U.S. Building with Beer tour to Canada and other markets this year.
And lastly, our focus on talent development, diversity and inclusion is really laser-focused on enabling our First
Choice agenda and leadership capability right across our enterprise. With these building blocks in place, we
believe that Molson Coors is positioned to grow total shareholder returns.
The completion of the MillerCoors transaction represents a step forward in the size and strength of our business,
and this will drive some significant changes in our financial numbers in the near term as we align and enhance our
financial reporting. In order to provide more comparable financial information, unless otherwise indicated, all
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
5 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
fourth quarter and full year 2016 consolidated and U.S. results discussed on this call will be presented on a pro
forma basis, as if the MillerCoors transaction and its financing had been completed at the beginning of 2015.
So start with business highlights for 2016. Overall, we're pleased with the progress our company made last year.
We increased global pro forma net sales per hectoliter 1.4% in constant currency for the year, as we continued to
achieve positive net pricing and to premiumize our portfolio towards higher margin, higher growth Above Premium
brands.
We exceeded our target for cost savings and we expanded pro forma underlying gross and pre-tax margins
globally. We reported nearly $2.4 billion of 2016 pro forma underlying EBITDA, an increase of 2.6% from the year
before. On an underlying pro forma basis, we grew pre-tax income 4.1% and after-tax income 1.9% for the year.
Now, I would like to share some regional highlights from 2016. In the U.S., on a pro forma basis, MillerCoors
domestic net sales revenue per hectoliter grew 1.3% for the year as a result of favorable net pricing and positive
sales mix.
Total net sales per hectoliter, including contract brewing and company-owned distributor sales, increased 1.2%
for the year. We grew our share of the Premium Light segment with Coors Light completing its seventh
consecutive quarter of increased segment share and its best annual volume performance since 2012 while Miller
Lite reached nine consecutive quarters of increased segment share. Coors Banquet, which completed its 10th
consecutive year of volume growth, gained segment share and came out of 2016 with accelerating volume trends.
In Above Premium, we purchased three regional craft breweries during the year and began integrating these high
growth, high potential businesses.
Although Blue Moon seasonals and Redd's had a challenging year, Peroni continued to grow volume and Henry's
Hard Soda, which was launched just over a year ago, became the number one hard soda franchise in 2016.
Our U.S. team is also executing new strategies to improve the performance of our economy brands, which are
already showing signs of progress. Miller High Life had its best annual sales to retail performance since 2009.
Overall STRs, however, declined 2.5% in the U.S. in 2016. MillerCoors pro forma cost of goods sold per hectoliter
decreased 2.5%, driven by supply chain cost savings and lower commodity costs, partially offset by a lower fixed
cost absorption due to lower volumes.
2016 underlying pro forma pre-tax income in the U.S. was up 13.8% from the previous year, as lower cost of
goods sold, net pricing growth, and positive sales mix were partially offset by a lower volume.
In Canada, net sales per hectoliter in local currency increased 0.2%, driven by more than 1% of positive pricing
and mix, partially offset by mix shift towards lower revenue packs and contract brewing volume. Our top line
reflected growth in our Above Premium brands, as Coors Banquet, Mad Jack, Belgian Moon, Creemore and our
Heineken import portfolio all continued to grow volume and market share.
Meanwhile, market pressure on the mainstream segment, particularly in Québec and the West drove overall STR
volume 2.8% lower for the year. Canada COGS per hectoliter decreased 1.1% in local currency, driven by cost
savings and lower depreciation expense. These factors were partially offset by the impacts of volume deleverage,
unfavorable foreign currency movements and inflation.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
6 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
On the bottom line, 2016 Canada underlying pre-tax income declined 12.2% to $267.3 million, driven by lower
volume, higher brand amortization, commercial investments and negative foreign exchange impacts, partially
offset by cost savings and lower incentive compensation expense.
We also determined that the fair value of the Molson Coors brands in Canada was lower than their carrying value,
so we recorded an impairment charge of $495.2 million in the fourth quarter, which is excluded from our
underlying results. In addition, we changed these brands to definite-lived intangible assets, which will be
amortized over 30 to 50 years.
Europe net sales decreased 0.9% in local currency for the year, driven by the indirect tax provision of
approximately $50 million recorded in the fourth quarter related to an ongoing legal dispute, along with lower
contract brewing volumes. Our continued portfolio of premiumization and mix management drove a 1% increase
in 2016 Europe net sales revenue per hectoliter in local currency.
On the strength of our Above Premium brands, including Coors Light, Sharp's Doom Bar, Franciscan Well,
Staropramen [ph] inside of (12:54) Czech Republic and Rekorderlig Cider, we grew market share in the region
with a 1.4% increase in owned, licensed and royalty sales volume. COGS per hectoliter in local currency
increased 4.4% due to mix shift to higher cost product and geographies, as well as lower net pension benefit.
2016 underlying pre-tax income was 36.2% lower due to $86.2 million of cost increases relating to the indirect tax
provision, brand amortization expenses, lower net pension benefit, and unfavorable foreign currency movements.
Our International business delivered strong results in 2016 with double-digit growth in net sales and owned and
royalty volume, as well as improved bottom line performance. Higher owned and royalty volume is driven by the
addition of the Miller global brands, along with Coors Light growth in Latin America and Australia, while net sales
increased due to higher volume and positive pricing.
This team improved 2016 financial performance significantly versus the year before, and delivered on its profits
commitment, excluding the impact of foreign currency movement since 2013 and the total alcohol prohibition in
Bihar, India from earlier in 2016.
Improved financial performance was driven by the addition of the Miller brands, volume growth in Latin America
and Australia, favorable mix, positive pricing, cost savings, and cycling the substantial restructure of our China
business in 2015.
The integration of the Miller global brands within International, Canada and Europe is proceeding well in the first
few months following the transaction close, but we're still in the early stages of [ph] setting (14:43) the historical
and potential future performance of these brands.
We're leveraging existing platforms and partnerships in some countries and establishing new supply chains and
partnerships in other attractive new markets. Regardless of the structure, all of our efforts are focused on
leveraging our existing scale and brand presence, to grow the Coors, Staropramen and Miller trademarks and our
craft brands in key markets around the globe.
Now, I'll turn it over to Tracey to give financial highlights and perspective on 2017. Tracey? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
7 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Thank you, Mark, and hello, everybody. Following the completion of the MillerCoors transaction, today's results
reflect a number of changes we have made to our financial reporting in order to align and clarify our results.
As Mark mentioned, we're providing pro forma results for the consolidated company and U.S. business, including
updates from refinements to purchase accounting and related tax assumptions, and aligning the way we report
our volume. Pro forma consolidated and U.S. results will be presented as if the transaction and its financing has
been completed at the beginning of 2015. Canada, Europe, International and Corporate results will not be
presented on a pro forma basis.
With that in mind, following our pro forma consolidated financial headlines for the fourth quarter and full year 2016
are as follows.
Net sales were down 4.2% in U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter and 2.3% for the full year, primarily due to currency
movements and the indirect tax provision recorded in Europe as well as lower sales volumes in North America.
On a constant currency basis, net sales decreased 2.2% in the fourth quarter and 0.6% for the full year versus the
same period last year.
Our net sales per hectoliter on a constant currency decreased 0.8% in the quarter. On a full year basis, net sales
per hectoliter increased 1.4% due to positive pricing and sales mix. On a U.S. GAAP basis, we reported a pro
forma net loss from continuing operations attributable to Molson Coors of $608.1 million for the fourth quarter,
down from $6.7 million of net income a year ago. This decrease was driven by the impairment charge recorded
for the Molson brands in Canada, higher U.S. GAAP tax expense, and the indirect tax provision recorded in
Europe.
On a full year basis, U.S. GAAP pro forma net income from continuing operations attributable to Molson Coors
decreased 48.9% to $277.5 million, driven by the same factors as in the quarter.
Fourth quarter pro forma underlying after-tax income increased 16.4% to $98.7 million or $0.46 per diluted share,
driven by 43% higher income in the U.S. and improved performance in International, partially offset by the indirect
tax provision in Europe.
Full year underlying after-tax income increased 1.9% to $936 million, driven by 13.8% higher U.S. income and
lower losses in International, partially offset by lower income in Europe and Canada. Underlying pro forma pre-tax
income increased 4.4% on a reported basis and increased 10.8% in constant currency for the fourth quarter. Full
year underlying pre-tax income increased 4.1% on a reported basis and increased 5.0% in constant currency. Pro
forma underlying EBITDA in the quarter was $405.1 million, 4.6% higher than a year ago.
For full year 2016, our business reported $2.383 billion of pro forma underlying EBITDA, an increase of 2.6% from
2015. Beginning in the first quarter this year, we plan to focus our consolidated and business unit performance
discussions on underlying EBITDA, which will elaborate a comparability with other global brewers.
On our last earnings call, we told you that we would provide transaction-adjusted earnings per share, which is
how we look at value creation from the MillerCoors and Miller global brands transaction. Since then, the SEC has
provided general direction to the market reinforcing a bias against non-GAAP measures. To respect that direction,
we will provide components for you to make that calculation on your own.
As we mentioned previously, this metric is calculated as the sum of three numbers: underlying after-tax pro forma
earnings per share, transaction-related after-tax book amortization, and transaction-related cash tax benefit.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
8 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
In the fourth quarter, these three numbers were: the underlying pro forma after-tax earnings of $98.7 million, plus
$9.4 million of transaction-related after-tax book amortization, and $63.9 million of transaction-related cash tax
benefit.
Also, we had 216.4 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the fourth quarter on a pro forma
basis. For the full year 2016, these numbers were; the underlying pro forma after-tax earnings of $936 million,
plus $37.5 million of transaction-related after-tax book amortization, and $275 million of transaction-related cash
tax benefits. We had 216.1 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the full year on a pro forma
basis.
Please see the earnings release we distributed earlier this morning for a detailed review of our business units'
financial results in the fourth quarter and full year. In the area of cost savings, we exceeded our 2016 goal by
achieving more than $165 million of in-year cost reductions across our company, driven by the U.S., Canada and
Europe, with savings from MillerCoors exceeding $85 million on a pro forma basis, along with more than $80
million from outside the U.S.
These results benefited from significant non-synergy cost savings initiatives, such as the Eden and Alton brewery
closures, which we do not expect to repeat in the near future. We generated $864 million of underlying free cash
flow in 2016 on an actual basis, [ph] not current format (21:35), up from $724 million in 2015. This growth was
driven by the addition of the other 58% of MillerCoors cash flow post-transaction, as well as strong working capital
performance, including lower underlying cash tax payments versus 2015. This strong cash generation allowed us
to achieve a quick start on our deleverage goals by paying down $200 million of term debt prior to the end of
2016.
A detailed reconciliation of our 2016 and 2015 underlying free cash flow is available in our earnings release this
morning. Total debt at the end of 2016 was nearly $12.1 billion, while cash and cash equivalents totaled $561
million, resulting in net debt of $11.5 billion.
Looking forward to 2017, all of the following metrics now include 100% of MillerCoors results. Currently, we
expect cash contributions to our defined benefit pension plans to be in the range of $100 million to $120 million in
2017. We anticipate 2017 pension income of approximately $24 million. Our 2017 capital spending outlook is
approximately $750 million based on foreign exchange rates at the end of 2016.
The increase in planned expenditures for 2017 is driven by the addition of MillerCoors capital expenditures, work
on our new brewery in British Columbia and spending to capture transaction-related synergies and other cost
savings.
Our consolidated net interest expense outlook for 2017 is approximately $370 million plus or minus 5%. We
expect our 2017 underlying effective tax rate to be in a range of 24% to 28% assuming no further changes in tax
laws, [ph] recommended tax orders, excess tax deduction for (23:31) share-based compensation or adjustments
to our uncertain tax position. And this range is consistent with our current expectation for our long-term tax rate.
We expect our cash tax rate to be significantly lower than this range due to the cash tax benefits related to the
MillerCoors transaction.
U.S. legislative initiatives to reform U.S. tax laws could have a significant impact on our tax rate and our cash tax
expectation, and we are following these developments first. The post-transaction integration of our business and
cost synergies capture – and cost synergies capture are progressing well with the following update. The North
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
9 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
American supply chain is driving to create a more efficient [ph] taxable production metric (24:16) and we are
evaluating options in light of the recent U.S. border tax proposals.
Global procurement [ph] has 24 integration projects in fact (24:23) with four already complete. Our global
business services locations have been agreed in North America and Romania, and we are focused on building
world-class [ph] spot (24:33), globalization of processes and digital labor to provide scale, efficiency and
effectiveness across our new business services network.
In commercial, we have finalized the selection of global media partners and transferring our U.S. return on
marketing investment or ROMI model to both Canada and Europe. And finally, Miller global brands integration has
proceeded as planned in each of our business units.
We have confirmed the sale and distributions practice with two-thirds of the global – of the Miller global brand
volume, with the balance operating in the near term under Transitional Service Agreements.
For cost savings, we continue to target $550 million of all-in savings, which will be made up of ongoing cost
savings in all of our businesses, as well as transaction-related synergies, all of which we are planning to deliver
by the third full year of our combined company, which is 2019.
Related to this cost savings goal, we still anticipate incurring approximately $350 million of one-time incremental
cash cost over three years to capture synergies, about evenly split between incremental capital spending and
cash operating expense, primarily in the first [ph] few (25:46) years of the program.
In the first year of this three-year program, we plan to deliver more than $175 million of all-in cost savings in 2017,
with most of these expected to come from non-synergy initiatives. We plan to capture the majority of our
transaction-related synergies in 2018 and 2019. Going forward, we will provide quarterly updates of transaction-
related [ph] assets (26:13) that we previously discussed, including our realized cash tax benefits and incremental
amortization.
We continue to expect transaction-related cash tax benefits to average more than $275 million per year for the
next 15 years. But we now anticipate that these benefits will be somewhat frontend loaded in the first few years,
with the later years slightly lower than the $275 million average.
In addition, we expect transaction-related amortization of approximately $37 million annually on an after-tax basis.
And finally, our underlying free cash flow target for 2017 is $1.1 billion plus or minus 10%. This target is consistent
with the preliminary target we provided on our last earnings call, and an [ph] increased impact (27:05) of
incremental cash paid for interest and synergy-related capital in 2017, as well as the cash tax benefits resulting
from the transaction.
This 2017 free cash flow target excludes planned capital spending relating to building our new British Columbia
brewery, as this multi-year project is being funded largely by the sale of our former brewery in Vancouver early in
2016.
As far as our cost outlook is concerned, for the full year 2017, we expect the cost of goods sold per hectoliter in
MillerCoors to increase at low-single digit rates and Canada COGS to increase at mid-single digit rates in local
currency. We expect our Europe COGS per hectoliter to decrease at a low-single digit rate in local currency and
our International business COGS per hectoliter to decrease at a double-digit rate.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
10 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Now, at this point, I'll turn it back over to Mark for outlook, wrap-up, and the Q&A. Mark? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Thanks, Tracey. In 2017, we will continue to play to win via our First Choice Consumer and Customer agenda. In
the U.S., as we move forward in 2017, we will continue to drive towards our goal of flat volume in 2018 and
growth in 2019. We'll again invest heavily in our flagship brands; Coors Light and Miller Lite, plus Coors Banquet.
Coors Light recently launched a new expansion of the Climb On campaign built on our continued commitment to
sustainability, which we believe will resonate with the growing number of consumers who support brands and
make the world a better place.
In Above Premium, Henry's Hard Sparkling, a new product to play in the growing alcoholic sparkling water
category will be launched nationally in March with Lemon Lime and Passion Fruit flavors, while Redd's and Blue
Moon Belgian White will introduce new aluminum pint packaging in the second quarter. Tenth & Blake, the craft
and import division of MillerCoors, will continue its focus on integrating and rapidly expanding the geographic
reach of our craft acquisitions.
As an example, the Terrapin Beer Company will reopen its brand-new tap room and microbrewery at The Battery
Atlanta, adjacent to SunTrust Park, which will soon be the new home of the Atlanta Braves Baseball team. In
addition, Tenth & Blake will accelerate efforts on Peroni to drive incremental growth.
Finally, we are implementing a range of new initiatives to boost our economy portfolio. Miller High Life has new
marketing and redesigned packaging. The Keystone family will unveil new packaging early this year, and Mickey's
is bringing back its popular large-format glass bottle packaging.
In First Choice Customer engagement, besides the Tamarron survey win, more than 15 retailers recently named
MillerCoors their supplier of the year, and we increased production flexibility across our brewery network and
ramped up two new aluminum pint filling lines in Fort Worth and Shenendoah to meet demand for this package.
We also remain committed to developing and maintaining strong relationships with our U.S. distributors.
In Canada, our First Choice agenda will be focused on bringing back momentum to the top line through a
relentless focus on our two largest brands, Coors Light and Molson Canadian in the premium segment. We look
forward to the launch of the new Molson Canadian campaign celebrating Canada's 150th Anniversary this year,
and to aligning the Coors Light creative platform with the U.S. Climb On campaign.
We will also drive for further growth in Above Premium via Coors Banquet, Mad Jack, Belgian Moon and the
Heineken brand family. While MGD will be the main focus, Miller brand in the short term, we are fine-tuning the
potential roles of Miller Lite and Miller High Life to further strengthen our portfolio.
Our customer relationships remain one of our key assets, and there will be increased call efficiency in 2017 and
more focus on the in-store execution of our brand campaigns across all channels. We will also continue to
transform our cost base to ensure we maximize our future competitiveness, including in our brewery network.
In Europe, our First Choice Consumer agenda now includes the Miller brands, as well as the international license
and export business in the region starting on January 1. So, we are now driving Staropramen, Coors, Carling, and
Miller with fully aligned strategies across Europe.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
11 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
We're also continuing to build a craft portfolio, including Sharp's, Franciscan Well and further expansion of Blue
Moon across the region. In January, we purchased the controlling interest in the Spanish craft brewery La Sagra.
Located near Madrid, La Sagra expands our craft portfolio in the world's 11th largest beer market and offers a
new distribution partner in Spain for Blue Moon Belgian White.
In customer excellence, our overall Europe Net Promoter Score increased again in 2016 for the third year in a
row, with 9 out of 11 countries improving their customer rating. And in the UK, our key accounts and convenience
retail customers scored us number-one out of 21 beverage suppliers.
Our International business is now much bigger with the addition of the Miller global brands, including attractive
developing and emerging markets. Beginning on January 1, we also changed our Puerto Rico business reporting
to the International segment, so that one team is now managing the entire Caribbean, while at the same time
transferring the European MCI markets to our Europe business.
We're building on our existing Coors Light momentum in Latin America and leveraging opportunities to grow the
Coors and Miller brands in high-opportunity markets using an asset-light model via strong partnering and local
license agreements.
The addition of the Miller global brands complements our growth strategy, and we have already hit the ground
running in key priority markets. In existing priority markets, such as Australia and Honduras, where our partners
have already embraced Coors Light, we are ready to accelerate growth with the addition of the Miller brands. And
in attractive new markets, we have begun expanding distribution with local partners, onboarding our country
managers, and activating local transition service agreements.
To summarize our discussion today, we're pleased with the overall progress our company made in 2016. In
addition to completing the MillerCoors and Miller global brands acquisition and moving quickly to integrate our
business, we exceeded our targets for cash generation and cost savings and expanded pro forma gross margins
and underlying pre-tax margins globally. We grew our Above Premium business globally, gained share of the key
Premium Light segment in the U.S., and accelerated the growth and performance of our International business.
As one company with an expanded portfolio of iconic brands and a highly focus leadership team, we have the
building blocks in place to leverage our increased scale, resources, and combined commercial experience to
accelerate our First Choice agenda and deliver long-term shareholder value.
Now, before we start the Q&A portion of the call, a quick comment. As usual, our prepared remarks will be on our
website for your reference within a couple of hours this afternoon. Also 1 PM Eastern Time today, Dave
Dunnewald will host a follow-up conference call, which is an opportunity for you to ask additional questions
regarding our quarterly results. This call will also be available for you to hear via a webcast on our website.
So, at this point, Andrea, we'd like to open up for questions, please.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
12 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION
Operator: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes
from Vivien Azer of Cowen. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC Q Hi, good morning. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hi, Vivien. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hey, Vivien. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC Q So, I was hoping we could drill down a little bit on the U.S. business, and in particular some of the evolving
dynamics that you're seeing in the competitive landscape, and specifically at economy price points. Can you talk a
little bit about some of the discounting that we're at least seeing in Nielsen, and whether you think these are kind
of rational choices that are being made in the sub-segment? Thanks. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks for that question, Vivien. I'll ask Gavin to give some color. I mean, I think the context before we get into
that detail is, if you just look our NSR per hectoliter performance in the U.S., which actually 2016 to – versus 2015
was relatively solid, which is I think a good place to start the conversation.
Gavin, do you want to just talk a little bit about the progress we're making on economy and what the pricing
environment looks like? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah, sure. Good morning, Vivien. Look, I mean, I'll just reiterate what Mark said, right, is our fourth quarter net
pricing growth was only slightly lower than the growth we achieved for the full year. And for the full year of 2016,
our net pricing growth of 1% was actually higher than we realized in 2015. So we are not facing a deceleration of
pricing. As it relates specifically to our economy portfolio and the economy via segments, it's been shrinking
relative to economy wines and spirits, so obviously re-engaging that economy – economy beer drinker is really
important.
Our strategy on economy is actually designed to bring more value to our drinkers across our brands. So it's not a
price-focused strategy. The economy certainly represents a significant volume for us – it represents a significant
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
13 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
volume opportunity for us, and it's important that we get drinkers into the economy portfolio rather than letting
them get into wines and spirits --, cheap wines and spirits because once they are in there, that's where they tend
to stay. They are very loyal to beer.
As far as the progress we are making is concerned, I mean Miller High Life, we moved away from the more
hipster I Am Rich campaign. And we are now focusing on, If you've got the time, we've got the beer campaign.
And the brand had its base quarterly and annual performance in seven years. And in fact in the public Nielsen
data, we actually grew share and grew volume in the data [ph] ended (37:19) early February of this year, Vivien.
We're offering better value at retail to our customers with Keystone Light 15 packs, this is the 12 packs.
Milwaukee's Best is just introduced in new packaging [indiscernible] (37:30) we've taken the alcohol up in
Milwaukee's Best on – on Best regular and on Ice. We've taken the alcohol content on Icehouse up. And Hamm's,
which has been around since 1865, has begun to reposition itself in certain geographies at an opening price point.
So I'm pleased with the progress that we've made on our strategy for economy and it's really important for us as a
business that we keep our drinkers in beer as opposed to wine and spirits. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Gavin. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC Q That's helpful. Can I squeeze in one more? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Sure. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Stewart F. Glendinning President & Chief Executive Officer-Molson Coors International, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Why not, Vivien? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC Q Thanks, guys. So, just if we're looking at the price mix realization or the net revenue per hectoliter that you saw, in
the fourth quarter, you guys have announced that there is going to be a change in terms of the funding split
between you and your distributors. What would that have looked like if that change has gone into effect in the
beginning of the fourth quarter just so we understand the relative benefits of making that change? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Gavin, do you want to pick that one? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
14 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah, sure. Vivien, look, I mean, we're changing to match the industry standard price promotion split of 50-50 on
all packaged beer, and we work very hard to ensure that the model is consistent, keeping both MillerCoors and
our distributors net revenue neutral point in time. It's all about executing our pricing strategy versus someone
else's. The change would ensure that we can equally share the investments and benefits from a joint price
promotion stand point of view and we'll be able to make better choices together. But it's revenue neutral, Vivien.
So, you won't see any changes in our financial reporting on the sales revenue line. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Vivien Azer Analyst, Cowen & Co. LLC Q Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Gavin. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Stewart F. Glendinning President & Chief Executive Officer-Molson Coors International, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Vivien. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Stephen Powers of UBS. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Stephen R. Powers Analyst, UBS Securities LLC Q Hey, great. Thank you. Actually two things, if I could. One is just a quick clarification. I might have missed it, but
did you – did you realize any savings against your three-year plan in that fourth quarter that just concluded?
That'll be the first question. And then, just kind of building on Vivien's question on economy, as you ramp up the
economy focus, how certain are you and what precautious have you taken that you can draw attention from –
away from economy wine and spirits, or competitor beer brands, and not cannibalize from elsewhere in your
portfolio? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Stephen, it's Mark here. So, on the first question, just to be clear, I mean, the $550 million of savings that
we've announced for the next three years start from the beginning of 2017. And we have given you the specific
cost savings that we achieved through 2016, which was actually right at the top-end of our expectation, principally
driven by the fact that we had Eden and Alton closures in 2016, and those were significant, but a non-recurring
event. So, as you think about comparables, I would push them to one side because, as I said, they are non-
recurring events. But the $550 million number is still solid for the next three years and obviously, as I've said, we'll
update that – progress against that on a regular basis and update more fully on an annual basis.
On your question on the economy brands, I've to be – I think Gavin really covered most of what we're doing there.
We're ensuring that our portfolio is – our [ph] purpose (40:58) offers real consumer value and makes our economy
brands attractive relative to the choices are available in economy spirits and economy wines. So, we believe that
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
15 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
we are strengthening the relationships with drinkers bring – bringing drinkers back into our brands by offering
value across that portfolio. I am not sure there's really anything else to add to that. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Well, the only thing I would add to it, Mark, is that we haven't seen the impact on our Premium Light brands, and
in fact we actually increased share meaningfully in the fourth quarter, and December was actually one of our best
share months in a very long time, and the economy strategy went into place towards the back-end of the year. In
fact, we grew segment share with Miller Lite and Coors Light for the 22nd consecutive month. So I haven't seen
that impact that Stephen refers to, and that's certainly not our strategy. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Stephen R. Powers Analyst, UBS Securities LLC Q Okay. Thank you very much. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A [indiscernible] (41:47). ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Laurent Grandet of Credit Suisse. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Laurent Grandet Analyst, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Broker) Q Yes. Good morning, everyone. Actually I will go on the other side of the beer segment, so more the premium one.
You've been saying that you transferred the Blue Moon brand from Tenth & Blake to your core business. Could
you tell us – I mean, where you stand on that transfer and how it is working? And also, all the different initiatives
you do to drive, I mean, revenue per hectoliter, that would be very helpful. Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. So, Gavin, do you want to pick-up on Blue Moon and I think it's important to talk on core Blue Moon Belgian
White, obviously the seasonal part of that business and the industries have been under a lot of pressure, do you
want to update on the transfer? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah, sure. Sure. Thanks, Mark. Look, I mean, we [ph] originally can see (42:42) Tenth & Blake in 2010 to create
build and expand craft brands like Blue Moon and Leinenkugel's and some of the iconic brands we have got like
Pilsner Urquell and Peroni. And since that time, Blue Moon and Leinenkugel's have grown from regional power
houses into really national main [ph] state (43:00), so holding their own through this explosion of choice and
different styles. And given the scale and size of these two brands, it made absolute sense for us to move it into
the marketing departments – or into the marketing departments and the move has gone particularly well. Mark
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
16 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
referred to the seasonals and variety packs, and yes, we [indiscernible] (43:20) volumes on seasonals and variety
packs, but this is an industry-wide phenomena and Blue Moon is no different to anybody else. Blue Moon Belgian
White, we've made some tweaks to our above the line and we're seeing the early benefits of that with meaningful
trend improvements in the fourth quarter and into 2017. So, I guess the short answer is, the transfer has gone
well. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A And thanks, Gavin. Laurent, I think your question just talked about how we're driving our NSR per hec. I mean,
right across our business, the focus in all geographies is really how we premiumize our portfolio. And if you look
at our results across Canada, Europe and more broadly in our International business where we play in Above
Premium segment, that's where we're trying to orientate the business, while at the same time recognizing [ph] that
our current big (44:16) economic engine is still our big mainstream brands. So, [indiscernible] (44:20) we've got to
keep our big mainstream brands performing well and we've talked to the share improvements, particularly in our
biggest market, the U.S., while at the same time premiumizing our portfolio, and that's what we're about and that's
what we'll continue to focus on. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Laurent Grandet Analyst, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Broker) Q Well, many thanks, very helpful. Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Laurent. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question is from Judy Hong of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. Q Thank you. Good morning. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hi, Judy. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. Q So, I want to – hi. I wanted to follow-up with a few questions on the cost savings. So, given that 2016 actually
came in at the high-end of your range, can you talk about the potential upside to your $175 million target in 2017
as part of your three-year cost savings target? And it seems like, we're actually looking for a step-down versus
2016. So just wanted to get a little bit more clarity around that? And then can you tell us the split in terms of the
Miller Coors versus the other segments within that $175 million target?
And then Tracey, I think you talked about potentially looking at supply chain opportunities and [ph] evaluating it
(45:31) in light of the potential border adjustability as part of the corporate tax reform. So can you sort of talk
about the implication of the total number that you've set out?
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
17 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hi, Judy. And that's cheating. That was about ten questions [indiscernible] (45:44)... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. Q It's a product [indiscernible] (45:47) cost savings. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A I think there was kind of three groups there. So on the first one in relation to 2017 versus 2016, I think I covered
that earlier, a 2016 number which we're very pleased about was, kind of inflated versus what you'd call a
normalized number because of the closure of Eden and Alton breweries. So they're kind of non-recurring, but very
significant event. So if you're looking at 2016 to 2017, you almost have to kind of strip out that impact.
The $175 million number that we've guided for, for 2017 is the number that we feel confident that we will be
focused on and delivering. And as we've always attempted to do, we set ourselves a target and we try and meet
and beat that and that's what we'll attempt to do through 2017. And that will be solid progress against our longer-
term $550 million of savings.
With regard to the North American supply chain, Tracey, do you want to just talk to how we're thinking about that? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. So, hi Judy. So we have plans in place. We are making those plans as flexible as possible because it's very
difficult and very early to predict and comment on any kind of changes that will come from tax reform that the
administration is busy looking at. So we have plans, we plan on [indiscernible] (47:08), if something changes, we
will make sure that they're flexible enough that we can change direction. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. Q Okay. And then Tracey, if I can just follow-up on, so at the last earnings call, there was some confusion around
the free cash flow guidance and now obviously you came out with the $1.1 billion that's in line with what you've
given us. But, you just – any kind of color you can give us in terms of what you think, so the one-off or one-time
items within that $1.1 billion number would be for 2017 that would be appreciated? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. So, Judy, the guidance has remained consistent with what we told you at the end of last year. So, it's $1.1
billion plus or minus [ph] $10 million, $15 million (47:50). We don't break out the factors that affects our free cash
flow, but some of the factors that probably you should consider as we've spoken about the incremental CapEx,
that's going to be required to capture synergies and other cost savings and most of that will come between 2017
and 2018. If you recall, we did tell you that the total cash cost was going to be around $350 million to deliver the
synergies and cost savings, that's going to be split evenly between CapEx and OpEx over the next three years.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
18 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
The other item to consider around free cash flow is, we've got the incremental cash interest as a result of the
acquisition date. So that's the step-up on this line. And then, other items that affect that would be things like the
pension contributions and timing of working capital changes, and then cash taxes on incremental income from the
U.S. which is now higher proportion of our income. So – that will also affect the free cash flow. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Judy E. Hong Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. Q Got it. Okay. Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks Tracey. Thanks Judy. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Mark Swartzberg of Stifel. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Q Yeah. Thanks, good morning everyone. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hi, Mark. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Q Really continuing – hey, Mark. Continuing one of the topics that Judy raised, Tracey, one of the comments you
made about deal-related synergies is that the majority will be realized in 2018 and 2019. So, the obvious question
is, what do you mean by majority? I doubt you're going to tell us the difference between 50% and 99%. But as you
think about moving past these next three years, and the due-diligence you're going to be doing on opportunities,
is it fair to think brewery optimization ranks on the top of areas for incremental savings. Is it procurement? Is it
commercial? I'm just trying to get a sense of where the additional savings might come from, and where you're
going to be doing work over the next few years? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yes. So, let me offer a couple of comments there, Mark. So, I mean, we're not going to get into splitting out the
detail of the $550 million. We have said that the synergy-related element which if you remember, we did talk
about on our last call which has come in as a bigger number and a faster number, so faster realization which is
good news is principally weighted into years 2018 and 2019.
2017 is more of a kind of transition year, as we put the businesses together, we get all of the [ph] work teams
(50:33) up and running. To move any volume around our network requires significant planning and CapEx
investment. But I feel good about the phasing we've got and the fact that those $550 million of savings will
[indiscernible] (50:48) end of 2020, 2019, but I don't want to give any further detail beyond that.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
19 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
I think as our businesses come together, clearly our spending in the markets, our ability to flex production across
different geographies, but also how we can generate additional revenue synergies as we transfer some of our
commercial excellence capability around our business, which is so central to my approach, was something which
I think will unlock real value for us.
So there is the cost synergies on one side, but actually improving our overall commercial performance through
our First Choice agenda, and lifting and shifting best practice ideas, whether that's pricing and revenue
management, plug-in portfolio gaps, getting behind brands that we've launched that are working well in one
geography and moving them to other geographies, all of that's ahead of us, and for me is opportunity and exciting,
but more of that to come, I think, in due course. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Q That's very helpful. And to build on that Mark, commercial and customer excellence, I'm sure is contributing to this
upgrade you're seeing among distributors here in the U.S. and the way they're rating you versus other suppliers,
it's also translating the teams into – and Gavin, you pointed this out to improved share trends for Premium Light,
but your overall share trends aren't quite unfolding the way you would like. Can you talk a little bit about what in
that customer excellence focus is to come so to speak that could translate into either a pick-up in the pace of
share-taking in Premium Light? Or an improvement in the performance of other aspects of your portfolio? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay. Thanks, Mark. Gavin, do you want to pick that up? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah, sure, Mark. Look – I mean, I usually think – well, we're very pleased with our share performance, Mark. 22
straight months of share performance and the highest we've had in many years in the month of December. If you
peel back the various brands, Mark, I mean, Coors' last four proceeding quarters, we've had the best run since
2012. We've upgraded the visual identity on Coors' large and we're going to building on the Climb On campaigns
through sustainability efforts, as we head into summer.
Miller Light has had very positive volume growth in three of the last nine quarters, which represents the best
performance that we've had from the brand. It goes back to the change in the original packaging in 2014, and
then it's still different, because of its brew different campaign. So we're pleased with the platform which we've
created for Miller Light in 2016. Coors Banquet achieved its 10th consecutive year of growth in 2016 with the
[indiscernible] (53:41) performance in the low single-digits and accelerating in the second half of the year into mid
single-digit growth and we're going to be building that campaign as we go forward.
We're introducing Spanish-language TV to go after the Latino segment of beer drinkers. I think already covered
our economy strategy and our economy portfolio strategy clearly enough Mark. I'm not going to repeat all that. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A So, Gavin. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
20 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A The only thing I would add in, and Mark just for information as I mean one of the decisions I've made is to take a
proportion of our synergies and reinvest that back into our business around our global growth team, our
commercial excellence team and that's focused around the handful of areas.
So, we're investing more in a pretty fundamental segmentation analysis, which will inform an awful lot of our
portfolio decision-making going forward, and that's been done consistently across all business units, with stronger
and broader global innovation team in place to drive for more disruptive innovation. We've now got a new global
digital team in place to support each of our business units with best practice unless been shift. We have a small
global brands team in place and a global customer excellence team focused on things like our NPS performance,
field sales management, pricing and revenue management. So, for us, to get different outputs going forward,
we're making some changes in our business from an input perspective, which I think will stand us in good stead
as I look out over the course of the next three to five year and really building the commercial muscle of our
organization. We have over 18,000 people [ph] who are now lined up buying (55:25) our First Choice agenda and
I'm convinced that will pay dividends for our business as we move into the future. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Q Very helpful. And if I could make one last one on that global dimension, Mark. Of course, the International Miller
business is now yours. Can either you or Tracey, can you give us some sense of the dollar amount we are talking
about in terms of the costs of owing that, either in year one and then the slope, so to speak, on that – that number
because you need to layer in cost. You addressed that in your prepared remarks, but I don't have a good sense of
the dollar value. I mean, we put something in our model, but can you give us some sense of the year one
increment there and then what the slope on that number might be over the next few years? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A I thought you might ask that question. The short answer is no at this stage, Mark. On our pro formas, we've
excluded the Miller International brands and we are still working through the fine detail of the trailing EBITDA
number and then the aspirations moving forward. It's complex because it wasn't a definitive kind of business unit
within SAB and it was spread across all of their operating units.
Stewart, do you want to just give a little bit color, though, just on what you are seeing in some of the markets and
how you are looking at that business? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Stewart F. Glendinning President & Chief Executive Officer-Molson Coors International, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Look, Mark, I think to Mark's point, more detail to come later, but I think broadly we've had a very good
start. We've transitioned many of the markets off the TSAs. We're very excited about the prospect for the brand.
As you might imagine, of course, there are some markets that are performing better than we expected, some
markets that aren't performing as well. But, broadly speaking, these are strong growing markets that have now
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
21 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
opened the door for our other brands, have brought some scale to bear in existing markets where we're already
selling Coors products. And I think we've got a very strong opportunity going forward. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. And Mark, the only thing I would add is we'll continue very much focused on our asset-light approach, so
working on partnerships and a license and export basis that has served us well. And I think from a – relative to
our cash use framework that we've articulated pretty consistently, I think is the right approach for our business. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark Swartzberg Analyst, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Q Excellent. Thank you, gentlemen. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay. Thanks, Mark. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Andrew Holland of Société Générale. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Andrew Holland Analyst, Société Générale SA (UK) Q Yeah, hi. A couple of questions, if I may. Firstly, you refer in your remarks about Europe to this ongoing legal
dispute and you've put a $50 million indirect tax provision in the quarter. Can you just remind us what is going on
there, what's behind that, and what the prognosis for an outcome is and whether there is any danger of needing
any further provisions in 2017?
And a slightly more detailed one, can you just give us an idea what your UK volumes have done in the year. And
then perhaps thirdly, could you just give us an idea of your trading year-to-date in the New Year? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Sure. So, kind of in reverse order, we don't give a trading update and that's the change that we made last year,
Andrew. So the biggest slice of our business now is our U.S. business, and the scanner detail is in the public
domain. So I would just refer you to that or any other news indeed on any of our other markets, but we don't give
short-term trading updates.
With regard to our UK volumes, I'm going to ask Simon just to talk to that in a second, and he can set that in the
context of how our European business is performing.
And then to your first question around the provision that we took, that's an ongoing legal dispute. So, we can't
really get into any further details. Our view is that that's the best estimate of the potential requirement on a
multiyear basis. There is further detail in our 10-K, which gives you a sense – which gives you a little bit more
color. I'd really refer you to look at that. But the $50 million provision is related to kind of a four-year perspective.
So that gives you a sense of, let's call it, the [ph] end (59:39) year requirements. Because it's an ongoing legal
dispute, I can't get into any more detail than that.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
22 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
I think to your second question, Simon, do you want to just talk about the UK and more broadly our European
performance? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Simon Cox President & CEO-Molson Coors Europe, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Thank you, Andrew. It's been a strong quarter for both our UK and European business. So, you asked
specifically about the UK. We've continued to do well on premiumization with a strong performance from Coors
Light, continued good performance from our craft brands in the UK and Ireland with Sharp's and Franciscan Well.
And the repatriation of Staropramen into our UK business is also going very well along with a new entry into cider
through the Rekorderlig brand.
So, putting that together along with our very strong performance in the eyes of our customers where we have
been not first choice on a number of channels and a number of customers, our UK business is in very good
shape.
If I put the UK business in context to European business, it's probably helpful to note or more helpful to you guys
actually to look at our European business performance taking aside the indirect tax provision, which by the way
has been an issue spanning just over four years. So, if I take that to one side, it's obviously a full year issue
weighing on a single quarter, it gives you a very distorted picture.
If I give you the underlying fundamentals of the European business, they're pretty strong. So, in quarter four, we
grew our volumes by 2.5% and we gained share and actually our Q4 share was an accelerated share gain versus
the rest of the year. In combination with that, we grew our net sales revenue perhaps [ph] later (01:01:26) by
3.1%.
And if I take the tax provisions one side and give you a number in constant currency, our underlying pre-tax profits
in Europe grew by over 20%. So, we would be very satisfied with both the UK performance, driven by
premiumization, First Choice for Customers and the overall European performance through Q4, and that pretty
much reflects the year that we've had in Europe as well. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay. Thanks, Simon. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Andrew Holland Analyst, Société Générale SA (UK) Q Okay. Sorry just to clarify for the year as a whole, I think your volumes, if I can make head or tail, the tables were
down in Europe for the year just marginally and I'm just interested to know whether that was because of
Continental Europe or the UK or both? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Simon Cox President & CEO-Molson Coors Europe, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. I mean, our own brand volumes, Andrew, so owned brand and royalty volumes were up 1.4%. So, the
slight decline you see is really driven by contract manufacturing. So, I would point you to in terms of underlying
business the 1.4% growth. And we [ph] would regard (01:02:40) along with that pricing and our mix performance
for the full year to be a good performance. We've taken share, we've grown our volumes, we've grown our
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
23 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
revenues, and we've managed to grow net sales revenue per hectoliter across the year [ph] at 1.4% (01:02:54).
So, I think the suite of those metrics, we will be very pleased with. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Andrew, sorry, this is Dave Dunnewald. Just to help you with navigating through the financials, at the top of
the summary of operations for, for example, the Europe business unit, those volume numbers are what we call
financial volume, and they include not only some brand volumes and things that flow through the P&L, but also
our contract brewing and then also factored brand volume, which is part of our new volume policy for this year.
But what Simon was talking about, you'll find the, call it, brand volumes owned and royalty and so forth in the
narrative of the release and the prepared remarks for the call. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Andrew Holland Analyst, Société Générale SA (UK) Q Okay. Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Andrew. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Robert Ottenstein of Evercore. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q Great. Thank you. A couple of questions. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Hi, Robert. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q Thank you. A couple of questions on the U.S. business. First, just in terms of Q4 and implications on Q1, can you
talk a little bit about the fairly significant difference between the STRs and the STWs in the U.S. in Q4 as well as
any impact from calendar issues and the weather on the market in your performance? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay. Thanks, Robert. Gavin, do you want to take that up? I think... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Sure. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
24 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A ...you covered some of it, but... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Robert. Look, one change we made this year is we kept our breweries open all the way through to the
end of the year, which is different to what we've done in the past, and we wanted to make sure that we could fulfill
all our distributors orders, so we did that. And we did fulfill all the orders we received. We didn't push any
inventory into our distribution network. We did have somewhat higher inventories as a result of the overall industry
reduction in December. I mean, our share was actually as good as it's been for a while, but the overall industry, as
you know, right across alcohol and packaged goods was down in December, so that drove our inventories up a
little bit. The higher inventory level we had, Robert, certainly helped us with our service in the first month of the
year, and we reduced out-of-stocks and improved service quite meaningfully compared to previous years in the
January timeframe.
From a weather point of view, the only real weather impacts we had at the end of the year were some freezing
conditions in both Milwaukee and Colorado, which led to some challenges with Blue Moon and Blue Moon
inventory, but other than that, no. As far as 2017 is concerned, we will assess obviously our inventory levels at the
end of the year, but our current plan is to ship to consumption in the year. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q So if it wasn't weather related, what happened in the industry in December then? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Robert, I'll leave it up to you, right. Despite the fact that we were down on volume, I was very pleased with our
share performance, particularly in the Premium Light segment. And as I said earlier on, we saw particularly good
performance coming out of and early parts of our economy strategy with Miller High Life and Coors Banquet, but
that'll be repeating myself if I go into all that again. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. And Robert, the other thing is, if you look more broadly across alcohol and CPG, there just seem to be a
general sluggishness in terms of demand and I think we're wrestling to pinpoint why, particularly a time where
there was so much frothiness and exuberance on the stock market. So, it remains a little bit of a mystery, but it
was I think a broad CPG kind of weakness through the month of December and is difficult to say it was due to X
or Y. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q Great. And then, Gavin, a bigger picture question on U.S. beer, one of the striking things that we saw in 2016 was
a fairly significant slowdown in the craft sector and lots of reasons for that, some changes, at least what we're
hearing in terms of retailers, in terms of their sets, maybe knocking off some of the long tail of some of the smaller
crafts. So could you kind of give your assessment big picture in terms of what's going on in the beer market in the
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
25 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
U.S. with the American consumer, what's happening with craft and retailers, and how you're positioning yourself
to take advantage of that? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Robert, it's Mark here. So, let me pick up on that because we could – this could be a long conversation,
and let me come back to I think some of the comments that we made through last year. I think the prognosis is
that craft's been great from a beer industry evolution perspective, it's brought more drinkers and more
conversations about styles and provenance, and that's good for beer and its long-term health and sustainability.
It would appear to be the case that we're in probably of an oversupply situation in many of the craft brands, which
are very, very across styles, which are very occasion-specific, meaning that there's probably a limitation as to how
broad that craft can become and many retailers are thinking of recognizing that they have got inefficiencies on
their shelf sets and too many SKUs, which are too specialized and turning too slowly.
And certainly the more sophisticated retailers as we've come through 2016 have been asking us for support and
Building with Beer approach that Gavin and team have and our category partnerships has allowed us to actually
help many retailers start to reset, shelf sets to drive efficiency in terms of velocity at the point of purchase. I think
you'll see that continue through 2017 and beyond. And the people that will win out will be the big national craft
brands that have got real clarity of positioning and distinctiveness, so brands like Blue Moon and [indiscernible]
(01:09:03) I think are well placed, regional brands, which have got real meaning across multi-states. And then
you'll continue to see a lot of local churn and real kind of very small, very local flavor profiles, et cetera, and many
retailers will continue to get visibility and presence, but overall there should be a simplification of the offer from a
sharper perspective.
Gavin, I don't know whether – did I miss anything in that kind of brief summary? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q Okay. Coming into 2017, do you believe that you'll have more equal or less shelf space and display space at your
major retailers? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Gavin? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Gavin Hattersley President & Chief Executive Officer-MillerCoors, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Robert, I mean, some of the big retailers have modified their assortment strategy just to trace out-of-stocks and to
improve inventory turn. So we believe that's an inevitable evolution that Mark said and the number of SKUs that
have been added to the beer category over the last few years. So, overall, we actually agree with that. And in
some areas, I would say that it has improved our positioning and in some areas it hasn't. So I think, coming into
2017, I think we'll assess that in its totality, but it's a strategy that we agree with because it returns focus to [ph]
co-packages (01:10:25) and provides a healthy balance between out-of-stocks and variety. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Robert Ottenstein Analyst, Evercore Group LLC Q
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
26 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Great. Thank you very much. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Robert. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: Our next question comes from Bryan Spillane of Bank of America. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Hey, good morning, everybody. I've got a couple of small picture questions, I guess. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay, Bryan. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q I guess, one is just on the tax provision. I think you covered this in response to a previous question, but the $50
million provision that you took in Europe – in the Europe segment, is a period, it's sort of one-time cost, right.
You're making an accrual based on kind of what your best estimate of the exposure would be. So as we're sort of
modeling next year, we wouldn't – assuming that you've got the estimate correct, we wouldn't add that $50 million
in the next year. Is that right? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A That is our current best estimate of, let's call it, the exposure and it's on an aggregated four-year timeline. There is
a little bit more detail in the 10-K, Bryan, but I think that's a fair assessment at this point in time [indiscernible]
(01:11:35) where we're at this point in time. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q So, given that, it's not a period cost specific to the fourth quarter, it knocked about $0.18 or $0.20 off the quarter? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah, that's factually correct. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Okay. And then second question just related to the write-down in Canada. Is there going to be incremental
amortization expense that we have to start plugging into Canada each year now based on the way you're going to
amortize the brands there? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
27 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yes. That's correct, Bryan. Having moved the brands to definite-lived and amortizing them over 30 to 50 years will
give us a full year cost of about $40 million on the full year. And, obviously, that's a non-cash cost. It doesn't affect
the cash flow number, but it will flow through on our earnings line. So, that's correct and pretty standard in these
situations. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A And just so people know, this is Dave Dunnewald, that started in the fourth quarter and so you'll see three
quarters of that impact kind of on an overlap basis in 2017. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. So, about $50 million in 2017, $40 million on a full year basis. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Okay. And then the last one. I noticed on your website you've got the pro forma updates through the fourth
quarter. So I'm assuming is that what we should be using now to sort of adjust our models – the base for our
models-to-models off of 2017? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. That's correct. I mean, we tried – a few people have talked about messy quarter. We've tried very hard to
make this really clear and consistent. And using the pro formas I think gives everybody kind of the best view of
our business on a like-for-like basis. I think one thing just to mention is, one of the changes that was made from
the previous pro formas related to really more detailed planning on PP&E. So our depreciation number has
actually increased. So that's given us about $0.07 hit in the fourth quarter.
So just as you look at the previous set of pro formas to the new set of pro formas, one of the numbers you may
not [ph] spot is there's (01:13:52) depreciation number is bigger because of more exacting analysis of how we're
allocating some of the asset values and lives in our business and in the fourth quarter, there's about $0.07
difference to probably what you were expecting. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q And it looks like, it also there is some adjustments to the prior quarters also from what I saw on that line? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. That's correct. Yeah, so we flowed that all the way back, so you've got full year 2015, full year 2016, but
there was a chunk in the fourth quarter in 2016. So, just look out further as you do your analysis. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
28 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Okay. And then just one last one, I guess, as we're talking about the pro formas. Is there anything else that's
different today versus that November 1 set of pro formas, besides the depreciation? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A I am looking at Dave and Tracey. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. So, Bryan, the one [ph] – there was another action (01:14:45) another driver and that related to a pension
and amortization. So, once we sort of got down further into the interpretation of our pro forma guidance, we
actually removed the pro forma adjustments that we had in that pro forma back in November and it also related to
purchase accounting impact. So, the tailwind going into 2017 [indiscernible] (01:15:11) $30 million. And just
another [ph] action (01:15:18) is that the Miller global brands are not in the pro forma. So just [indiscernible]
(01:15:24) ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q All right. So, as we're looking at bridging from pro forma to next year, there's that $30 million that shouldn't repeat
next year and then whatever we were thinking about in terms of the Miller global brands? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A That's correct. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Plus the two-year amortization related to the Canada impairment. That's correct. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Correct. And then, obviously, the $50 million pension is the other one that hopefully won't recur? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Provision. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
29 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Yeah. In terms of the... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Provision. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Bryan D. Spillane Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Q Provision, sorry. Okay. I think that's it. I'm sure there'll be more to follow-up on Dave's call a little bit later, but
thank you, everyone. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Bryan. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tracey Joubert Global Chief Financial Officer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thanks, Bryan. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Andrea, we'll take one more question. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. I think, Andrea, we've probably got time for one, maybe two just depending on how many you've got lined
up. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: All right, sir. Our next question comes from Pablo Zuanic of SIG. Please go ahead. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Aatish Shah Analyst, Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP Q Hi. This is actually Aatish Shah in for Pablo. Just two quick questions. One, I think you might have touched on
already. Could you remind us of the $550 million worth of cost saving synergy guidance, how much of that can be
attributed to MillerCoors itself? Is $400 million a fair assumption? And then secondly, the pro forma EBIT ex-items
for MillerCoors was up $170 million in 2016 per today's disclosure, how much of that could be attributed to the
deal? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Sorry. The lines are a little bit tricky. Can you just repeat the second part?
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
30 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Aatish Shah Analyst, Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP Q Yeah. The pro forma EBIT for MillerCoors was up $170 million for 2016. Could you just tell us how much of that
can be attributed to the deal? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Well, let me take the two questions one at a time. And, Tracey, do you want to take the second question? Just a
moment. On the first question, the $550 million, that's just three-year guidance in aggregate and we're not splitting
that out by business unit. I mean, we'll report that at enterprise level and we'll update on an ongoing basis. We
have set a target of $175 million as we go through 2017 and as I've said earlier, we'll try and meet or beat those
numbers as we always anticipate doing. But we're not breaking out cost savings by EBIT, by business unit.
On the second question, which relates to the 2016 performance, I think Dave Dunnewald is going to just back up. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. Let me pick up that one. It sounds, though, you're looking for essentially an earnings accretion or what was
the deal – what was the deal benefit. And you won't see that pro forma numbers because we've done everything
we can to make those as comparable as possible, and so the adjustments in 2015 and 2016 are substantially the
same.
So if you want to see the deal benefit, I would suggest looking at more of the actual results that we posted for the
fourth quarter and then comparing that with the actual results we had in our prior-year quarter. That's going to be
your best estimate at this point, but we're not going to actually do, call it, full math around that, but that will give
you at least a general idea, and you can see that on the EBITDA tables in the earnings release and the other, let's
call it, pre-tax earnings tables, look at the actual numbers. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Yeah. And you'll have a chance in this afternoon... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A And the 10-K. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A ...in this afternoon's call [ph] having to have a (01:18:47) look at those tables, if there's any lack of clarity or any
follow-up questions [indiscernible] (01:18:52) with Dave and team. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Aatish Shah Analyst, Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP Q Great. Thank you. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) Q4 2016 Earnings Call
Corrected Transcript 14-Feb-2017
1-877-FACTSET www.callstreet.com
31 Copyright © 2001-2017 FactSet CallStreet, LLC
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Thank you. Dave, do we have time for one more question? ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
David Dunnewald Vice President-Investor Relations, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A We can do one more quick one. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co. A Okay. Andrea, that sounds like it will be our last question. People have been very patient. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: All right. There are no further questions in the queue. So, this concludes our question-and-answer
session and I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Mark Hunter for closing remarks. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Okay. Andrea, that sounded almost like we'd choreographed that there. So, many thanks for joining our call this
morning and for your continued interest in the Molson Coors Brewing Company. We look forward to seeing you at
forthcoming events and on our next call at the end of our Q1 earnings as well. Thanks, everybody. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now
disconnect your lines. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mark R. Hunter President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Thanks, Andrea.
Disclaimer
The information herein is based on sources we believe to be reliable but is not guaranteed by us and does not purport to be a complete or error-free statement or summary of the available data.
As such, we do not warrant, endorse or guarantee the completeness, accuracy, integrity, or timeliness of the information. You must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any
information provided hereunder, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, safety or usefulness of such information. This information is not intended to be used as the primary basis
of investment decisions. It should not be construed as advice designed to meet the particular investment needs of any investor. This report is published solely for information purposes, and is
not to be construed as financial or other advice or as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any state where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal. Any
information expressed herein on this date is subject to change without notice. Any opinions or assertions contained in this information do not represent the opinions or beliefs of FactSet
CallStreet, LLC. FactSet CallStreet, LLC, or one or more of its employees, including the writer of this report, may have a position in any of the securities discussed herein.
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU HEREUNDER IS PROVIDED "AS IS," AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, FactSet CallStreet, LLC AND ITS
LICENSORS, BUSINESS ASSOCIATES AND SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE SAME, EXPRESS, IMPLIED AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE
MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER FACTSET CALLSTREET, LLC NOR ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, DIRECTORS, PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, BUSINESS
ASSOCIATES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, SECURITY BREACHES, VIRUSES, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, USE,
DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES OR COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSSES, ARISING UNDER OR
IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN OR ANY OTHER SUBJECT MATTER HEREOF.
The contents and appearance of this report are Copyrighted FactSet CallStreet, LLC 2017 CallStreet and FactSet CallStreet, LLC are trademarks and service marks of FactSet CallStreet, LLC.
All other trademarks mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved.