AB InBev Plunges as Brewer Cuts Dividend Payout in Half
- Brewer to reduce debt amid emerging-market currency swings
- Sales growth slows to weakest pace in a year on Latin America
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Anheuser-Busch InBev NV plunged after the world’s largest brewer cut its dividend in half as it seeks to pay down a $109 billion debt mountain swelled by the acquisition of rival SABMiller Plc in 2016.
The stock dropped as much as 11 percent amid a global selloff, marking the steepest decline since 2008 and destroying 16 billion euros ($18 billion) of market value. The Budweiser maker pointed to the plunge in emerging-market currencies, which is crimping profits after sales growth in the third quarter slowed to the weakest pace in more than a year.