By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Well, howdy do, Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) brought in a surprise profit for the first quarter.
Analysts had expected a loss per share of 8 cents, but got a penny instead. Sales of $1.9 billion were also mildly ahead of expectations of $1.89 billion. Shares are up 4%.
This is all despite a drop in sales, and a quarter that saw a system outage caused by a cybersecurity incident; an abnormal winter storm in Texas that forced utility companies to shut off power to the Fort Worth brewery for 11 days; and government restrictions that shut down the entire on-trade channel in the U.K.
“Despite these three unprecedented and disruptive events that took place in the quarter, we continued to make progress against our revitalization plan focused on driving long-term top-line growth," Chief Executive Officer Gavin Hattersley said in a statement.
It's not just the eponymous label that's growing.
"We saw tangible progress on our path to growing our above premium portfolio. Net sales revenue per hectoliter in our largest market, the U.S., was up 4.1%, as we took substantial steps toward our hard seltzer ambition, driven by the launch of Topo Chico Hard Seltzer," Hattersley said.