For the most part, Adolph Coors'
Coors is still clinging to a distant third place in the U.S. beer market. With an 11% share of the domestic beer market, it trails Altria Group's
While domestic volume was largely stagnant in the first quarter at 4.9 million U.S. barrels, results from other segments were encouraging. In Canada, pretax earnings jumped 56% to $12.5 million on the strength of higher pricing and substantial volume growth. Likewise, European operations earned $6.2 million pretax on a 27% sales increase to $383 million. Portions of these gains, however, are attributable to favorable currency fluctuations, with rises in both the Canadian dollar and the British pound.
Coors has its work cut out. It not only has to contend with traditional megabrewers Miller and Budweiser, but also smaller rivals such as Boston Beer's
Regardless, Coors does have a quality product and a loyal following. Furthermore, hopes are high for the success of the new low-carbAspen Edge, set to roll out this summer to compete with Budweiser's Michelob Ultra, which has already built a 2.1% market share. If Coors can capitalize on a new marketing strategy designed to reach a target demographic of twenty-something males, it might finally gain a little traction in the three-way race.
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Fool contributor Nathan Slaughter owns none of the shares mentioned.