By Chelsey Dulaney
Constellation Brands Inc. on Thursday unveiled its first
quarterly dividend since 1973, as the alcoholic-beverage maker's
Mexican beer segment continued to drive growth in the latest
quarter.
Constellation had signaled in recent months that it was looking
to return cash to shareholders as it brought down its debt levels.
The Victor, N.Y., company said it would pay a cash dividend of 31
cents a share for its Class A stock and 28 cents per share for its
Class B stock.
Constellation's Corona Extra and Modelo Especial brands have
been two of the hottest beers in the U.S. as of late. Larger
competitors Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and MillerCoors LLC, meanwhile,
have struggled with declining volumes in recent years.
For its fourth quarter, Constellation's beer sales grew 11%.
To keep up with surging beer sales, Constellation has said it is
planning to spend more than $1 billion to expand its brewery in
Nava, Mexico.
Overall, the company posted a profit of $215 million, or $1.06 a
share, compared with $157 million, or 79 cents a share a year ago.
Excluding certain items, per-share earnings were $1.03 a share.
Net sales rose 5% to $1.36 billion.
Analysts had projected 94 cents a share in profit and $1.36
billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
For its 2016 fiscal year ending next February, Constellation
forecast per-share earnings of $4.70 to $4.90 a share, in line with
analysts' expectation for $4.85 a share in earnings.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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