Earnings Labs

Molson Coors Beverage Company (TAP)

Q3 2017 Earnings Call· Wed, Nov 1, 2017

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Molson Coors Brewing Company Third Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call. 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 were made. Regarding any non-U.S. GAAP measures that maybe discussed during the call and from time-to-time by the company's executives discussing the company's performance, please visit the company's website, 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 period and in U.S. dollars and the consolidated and U.S. segment results are presented versus pro forma results a year ago, which reflects the acquisition of MillerCoors as if it and the related financing had occurred on January 1, 2016. Following the prepared remarks this morning, management will take your questions. In order to allow as many people to ask questions as possible, please limit yourself to one question. If you have multiple questions, please ask your most important question first and then return to the queue to ask additional ones. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Mark Hunter, President and CEO of Molson Coors. Please go ahead.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thank you, Rachel, and hello and welcome, everybody, to the Molson Coors earnings call and many thanks for joining us today. With me in the call this morning from Molson Coors, we have Tracey Joubert, our Global CFO; Gavin Hattersley, the 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; Brian Tabolt, our Global Controller; and Dave Dunnewald, our Global VP of Investor Relations. Today, Tracey and I will take you through the highlights of our third quarter and year-to-date results, along with some perspective regarding the balance of 2017. Consistent with last quarter, we're also offering slides that show both reported and constant-currency results for both the quarter and year-to-date. You can view and follow along with these slides using the link on the Investor Relations page of our website. The Molson Coors Brewing Company will deliver growth and long-term shareholder value through our first choice for consumer and customer approach, an expanded international business, the delivery of integration savings, ongoing cost savings, a more efficient global organization and a relentless drive for financial performance. Our focus is to deliver both top and bottom line growth. Year-to-date, we've delivered worldwide brand volume growth, driven by our global priority brands. And on a constant-currency basis, NSR per hectoliter is up 2.4% as our portfolio premiumization has driven pricing and mix benefits around the globe. To this point, in terms of progress, above-premium brand volumes increased 19% in the quarter and 20% for the year. And with this strong growth, our above-premium brands now represent 18% of our total volumes. At the same time, we've improved our EBITDA margins this year while investing in the business, with…

Tracey Joubert - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thank you, Mark, and hello, everybody. So, let's review our consolidated financial headlines for the third quarter versus our pro forma results a year ago, except for cash flow, which is reported on a year-to-date actual basis. Our net sales decreased 2.1% due to lower financial volumes, partially offset by positive global pricing, sales mix, royalty volume and foreign currency movements. Our net sales in constant currency declined 3%. Our global net sales per hectoliter increased 2.9% and 1.9% in constant currency, due to higher global pricing and sales mix. Our worldwide total brand volume increased 0.6%, driven by strong growth in Europe and International, partially as a result of adding the Miller global brands business and also from growth in some of our core brands. Our global priority brand volume increased 2.4%. Our financial volume decreased 4.8%, driven by the U.S. and Canada, which were adversely impacted by reductions in wholesaler inventories, contract brewing and brand volumes. These volume declines were partially offset by growth in both Europe and International due to added Miller International brand volumes as well as positive organic brand performance. U.S. net income increased (sic) [decreased] 12.1% and underlying non-GAAP net income decreased 3.5%. Our underlying results were primarily attributable to lower financial volume, higher brand amortization expense, increased G&A costs and a higher effective tax rate, partially offset by positive pricing and mix, cost savings and lower interest expense. Our underlying EBITDA decreased 1.2% on a constant-currency basis. Our underlying free cash flow compared to actual results last year increased nearly 80%, driven by the addition of the other 58% of MillerCoors cash flows as well as lower cash tax paid for taxes, which were partially offset by higher cash paid for interest and capital expenditures. We ended the quarter with net debt of…

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Tracey. I began this call by outlining our plans to drive total shareholder returns. And while the business environment, especially in North America, remains more challenging than anticipated, we believe our ambition to be first choice for consumers and customers will generate sustainable returns to our shareholders. Our regional business priorities are clear and consistent. In the U.S., we remain focused on gaining segment share in premium, growth in above-premium and stabilizing our below-premium brand share. As you can see in this slide, this drives our consumer excellence approach and let me give you some proof points on our progress. In premium, Miller Lite is well on track to become the number three beer brand in America. Strong momentum for Coors Banquet continues, as we expect 2017 to mark the 11th consecutive year of annual growth for this iconic American brand. In 2018, Coors Light will relentlessly sharpen and strengthen its message as the World's Most Refreshing Beer, including some exciting packaging changes. Both Miller Lite and Coors Light are powerhouse brands. They gained segment share again this quarter, a trend that's extended for more than 21/2 years. In above-premium, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy had a record-breaking year with volumes up low-double digits. We plan to build on this success next year through a number of packaging and Shandy innovations. Meanwhile, the Blue Moon family is widening its lead as the world's number one craft brand and Blue Moon Belgian White will continue its growth momentum with new SKUs and a focus on our legendary on-premise orange ritual, which is driving strong velocity and incremental tap handles across the U.S.A. As per Nielsen, Blue Moon and Leinie's families accounted for 22% of the total craft beer volume growth year-to-date in the U.S. In regional craft, Terrapin, Hop Valley, Revolver, Colorado…

Operator

Operator

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. The first question comes from Andrea Teixeira with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Andrea F. Teixeira - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst

Hi. Good morning there. Just – thank you for taking the question. I wanted to explore more the free cash flow guidance. I know you capped it, but some of the components were actually more favorable. So, I was wondering if what led you to be more conservative and if that's related to commodity pressures that you saw throughout the beginning, I mean the first nine months. So, if you can help us like reconcile, again, the free cash flow guidance. Thank you.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hey, Andrea. Thanks for your question. I'll let Tracey pick up the specifics. I would just remind you that we've already increased the free cash flow guidance as we've come through this year. So, Tracey, do you want to just talk about the components and the cash flow performance?

Tracey Joubert - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. So, hi, Andrea. So, free cash flow has got many factors that drive it and so for that reason, we do talk to our free cash flow guidance in the sort of plus and minus ranges. So, this quarter, we have reduced our CapEx guidance to $650 million, plus or minus 5%. So, we've reduced it and also tightened the range. This is partially due to identifying ways to achieve our cost savings and synergies while spending or investing less in our breweries and in our RT space (25:37) as we continue with our integration plan. So, other than that reduction in CapEx, the odd effect is that obviously go into free cash flow. Earnings is one of them, but also a big driver is our working capital. So, for example, December is a big collections month and depending on the timing of our collections, that will play into our free cash flow. So, we have got a strong track record of delivering our free cash flow. Year-to-date, our free cash flow delivery has been very strong, which has actually helped us to make an incremental $200 million contribution to our pension plan. So, we're very comfortable with our free cash flow guidance and we are confident that we will be within that range.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Laurent Grandet with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead. Laurent Grandet - Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC: Thank you for the opportunity. Good morning, everyone.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hey, Laurent. How are you? Laurent Grandet - Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC: Good. There was a large difference between the sales to retailers and sales to wholesalers in the U.S. this quarter. So, are you back to a right level of inventory at wholesaler level or are you low and we should expect, I mean, a bump in Q4? And in general, what in your view is the right level of wholesaler inventory level in number of days?

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yes. So, let me ask Gavin to pick that up against the backdrop of what's an ongoing aspiration to try and ship to consumption. So, Gavin, do you want to just talk about some of the specifics on as we've come through Q2 and Q3 and then how we see the balance of year?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

Sure, Mark. Thanks and good morning, Laurent. The distributor inventory was reduced in the third quarter, because we had higher-than-planned levels at the end of the second quarter, which is something we called out on the last conference call. Distributed inventories into the third quarter were actually in line with the prior-year levels and that's for sure helped us improve our service to our customers as we've had almost 50% reduction in out of stocks compared to the last year. I'd also make a point that the third-quarter STWs were negatively impacted because we had one fewer trading day in the quarter. So, year-to-date, our trading-day-adjusted domestic STRs are down about 2.3% and our domestic STWs are down 3.8%. And on a full-year basis, we would anticipate that these numbers would converge as we expect distributed inventories compared to the prior year increase a little bit by a day or two in support of the go-live of our Golden system ordering tool early next year. Having said all that, we do expect full-year domestic STWs to be slightly below our comparable STR change, because the build-up at the end of 2016 was larger than I expected build-up at the end of 2017. So, a lot of detail there. I hope that answers the question.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Vivien Azer with Cowen. Please go ahead. Vivien Azer - Cowen & Co. LLC: Hi. Good morning.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hey, Vivien. Vivien Azer - Cowen & Co. LLC: So, I wanted to take the opportunity to revisit Canada and cannabis in light of Constellation's deal announcement earlier this week. So, a two-part question, if you don't mind. Number one, kind of your current assessment of kind of the Canadian cannabis in terms of potential risk factors and how you're thinking about potentially supporting the business next year from an investment standpoint and then, secondly, your appetite to explore that market? Thanks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Vivien, let me pick that up. And obviously, being based here in Colorado, we're very familiar with cannabis, as it's been legalized here. And clearly this is something that, as the whole legal landscape continues to change, we're actively working to understand. We have a team of people working on that. We're looking at potential impacts and/or the opportunities associated with and we're developing a range of responses. Those will be discussed across our executive team and our boards and there'll be more to follow in due course. I don't think we have any statement beyond that to make at this point in time. I think the important thing is to make sure we don't get caught in some kind of adrenaline rush. We're very thoughtful, very purposed and we're very clear on how we want to respond to both what could be challenges and what also could be opportunities. So, more to come in due course.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Robert Ottenstein with Evercore. Please go ahead.

Robert Ottenstein - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you very much. Your U.S. revenue per hectoliter I thought was pretty impressive, given a tough comp on that number, and you came in better than your primary U.S. competitor. Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about the drivers for revenue per hectoliter in the U.S., price/mix and how perhaps you're improving your revenue management practices. Thank you.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Robert, and I'll ask Gavin to talk the specifics. I mean, again, just a couple of context points. Gavin and his team are driving for, I would say, a very disciplined approach in our U.S. business. And then, clearly, we've made some changes in terms of our whole price promotion approach as we've come into 2017. So, I think they are important context points, but, Gavin, do you want to talk about the specifics and how you and the team are driving the NSR per hec?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Right. What I mean, Robert, as you know, a number of different factors go into our domestic NSR per hectoliter. We've got things that we've talked about in the past like FET drawbacks and freight and fuel revenue adjustments which we make, and then, of course, there's frontline pricing and product promotions and sales mix. I mean in the quarter, sales mix was actually negative because of the success that we had behind our economy strategy. At the same time, we had tremendous progress on Blue Moon Belgian White, which continues to grow and grow strongly as one of the few large cross-brands in the country that is actually growing. And we had a record performance from Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. So, pleasing progress on our above-premium portfolio. And, as Mark said, we put a constant focus on our revenue management initiatives and that's an ongoing effort.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. I mean, I think the only thing I would add to that, Gavin and Robert, is that right across our business, building our capability around pricing and revenue management is central to our whole commercial excellence approach. And if you look at the U.S., Canada and Europe, you're seeing very solid progress when you look at how we're managing one of the critical components of our top line and that's our revenue per hectoliter. So, I feel pleased with progress and we'll continue to focus in that area.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Judy Hong with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Judy Hong - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: Thank you. Good morning.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Good morning, Judy. Normally, you're first on, Judy? Judy Hong - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: I guess I was pretty slow this morning. So, Mark, I think in your prepared comment, you commented that management priority is first to focus on generating cost savings for bottom line growth. So, in light of what seems to be a much tougher industry environment for volume in the U.S. market, I just wanted to hear from you sort of what you're doing differently to generate more bottom line growth in the near term, not just the year-to-date EBITDA growth as relatively modest. And then just one clarification on the STW and STR kind of piecing together all of the things that Gavin said, are we expecting in the fourth quarter that STW to still be below the STR?

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Okay. So, let me just start with the second question. Gavin, do you want to just come back to Judy just on her question on STW expectations in Q4?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

Sure, I can, Mark. Thanks. Look. Judy, I mean – as I said, that we would expect to be closer to shipping to consumption for the full year as we – so, those two will converge in the fourth quarter. So, put simplistically, STWs will probably be slightly better than STRs in the fourth quarter, yes.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Okay. Thanks, Gavin. And then, Judy, just on your first point, I mean just to clarify, I didn't say cost savings was our number one priority. What I said is when you look at our drive to improve both our top and bottom line, clearly, our number one priority is to make sure we're delivering on the bottom line both from a EBITDA margin expansion, absolute EBITDA growth and free cash flow focus and clearly getting our top line moving is a priority, second priority, because it's the best source of sustainable profit growth over the medium to longer term. So, both of those things have got to work in tandem, but we've got to make sure we deliver on our bottom line financial performance. I'm encouraged by the fact that if you look at our cost saving plan – the three-year cost saving plan of $550 million over the three years, we're off to a great start in 2017. That's coming in stronger and faster than we had expected. We're not going update that cost savings guidance at this stage. If there was any update, we would do that as we kick off our 2018. So, continuing to look for more efficient investments to drive our synergies, to further take costs out of the business, to drive productivity and efficiency behind our marketing expenditure is all important. And again, I've reiterated a number of occasions that myself and the management team are ensuring that we're retaining flexibility in our P&L. If trading conditions are slightly tougher than anticipated, we have got the ability to flex our P&L to protect and develop our bottom line. So, there's quite a lot in there, but hopefully that gives you a sense as to what we're really driving against as a leadership team.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Mark Swartzberg with Stifel Financial. Please go ahead. Mark David Swartzberg - Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.: Yeah. Hey. Good morning, everyone. Also a U.S. question certainly for you, Mark, perhaps you too, Gavin, can you give us a sense of the budgeting dialogue as you head into 2018? And I'm particularly, of course, interested in the more discretionary items, marketing and other things that influence the top line as it does seem like flat is not a likely outcome in spite of the benefit you'll get from Sol and Arnold Palmer. So, just trying to get a sense of how you're thinking about spending and whether that flat objective is still what you're thinking about.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

So, if I get behind your question, Mark, I think what you're asking is, are we going to spend a level irrespective of the impact that just drives flat volume? And again, I've been very consistent that we're not driving for flat volume and growth in the U.S. at any cost. We've been very clear that, that strategic ambition is, I think, very, very appropriate. We want our business back into growth in the U.S. Clearly, that was assumed against a backdrop of U.S. industry volume, which was probably closer to flat. U.S. industry volumes are not as strong as that. So, it may take a little bit longer to get there. It doesn't change our strategic intent in the U.S. and you've seen a couple of indications as how we want to build out our portfolio with Sol and Arnold Palmer. We continue to work on other initiatives that hopefully will flow through as well in due course. So, just coming back to the specifics of your question, we'll spend a level that's appropriate to build our portfolio and also continue to drive strong financial performance in the U.S. So, Gavin, I don't know whether you'd want to add any additional color around that.

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

No, I don't. Thanks, Mark.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Okay. So, Mark, hopefully that answers your question.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Bryan Spillane with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Bryan D. Spillane - Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hey. Good morning, everyone.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Bryan.

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hi, Bryan.

Bryan D. Spillane - Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hi. Just wanted to follow up first on Mark's question just around volume and maybe Judy's question as well, in the third quarter, with the volumes coming in, and presumably STWs came in below what you were originally planning, was there much that you did during the third quarter to offset the volume shortage or did it all happen so suddenly, there wasn't much you can do to adjust and it would have been even much more leverage if there was more volume? Just trying to get a sense if there was any remedial actions you took in response to the volume declines. And then, I have a follow-up.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. So, I mean, I think it's fair to say we've come through both Q2 and Q3 and industry demand in the U.S. has been more sluggish than it was anticipated. And again, we've been consistent that we're retaining flexibility in our P&L to ensure that we've got levers to pull if volume isn't coming through as anticipated. We did that through the third quarter. Clearly, some parts of a discretionary spend is more fixed than others if you're in big contract, for example, and sponsorships, but whether it's the U.S., Canada or our other business units, we retain that flexibility to offset any volume weakness. Clearly, you can do that up to a certain point. And I think we've demonstrated our ability to do as we've come through the third quarter. Again, that's very consistent with how we've thought about managing our P&L over the course of the last 12 to 18 months.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Tristan van Strien with Redburn Partners. Please go ahead. Tristan van Strien - Redburn (Europe) Ltd.: Hi. Morning, guys. One for Gavin. I just want to ask about Sol distribution to U.S. In terms of what share of your current distributors actually doing Corona at the moment and to what extent is that a barrier? And maybe to follow-up on that, how are you thinking about Sol? Is this about getting distribution or is it more about velocity in the first few years? Thank you.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Tristan. Gavin, do you want to jump straight into that?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

Yeah. I would say, Tristan, probably two-thirds to three-quarters of our distributors have Corona, roughly. Look, I think it's really early for us on Sol. We've only had it since the 1st of October. We've seen a lot of excitement from our distributors. We've seen it from our retailers. The transition is going well. It's been a tremendous cross-functional effort over the last few months. We're working closely with Heineken in Mexico to ensure a smooth transition and we're excited about it. It's a very sessionable lager, it's got a great brand story. It's been around for a tremendously long period of time since 1899 and it fills a nice gap in our portfolio, which we've been under pressure to fill that gap on the Mexican portfolio. Now, we've got Sol and we're excited about it.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Gavin. Back to you, Rachel.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. The next question comes from Pablo Zuanic with SIG. Please go ahead.

Pablo Zuanic - Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP

Analyst · SIG. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hi, Pablo.

Pablo Zuanic - Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP

Analyst · SIG. Please go ahead.

Look, just I wanted to stay within the one question limit, but maybe for Gavin, when we look at the STRs in the first half, they were down 2%, in the third quarter, down 2.9%. Can you just say – indicate at a portfolio level whether the three buckets worsen or something worse than more than the other? By the three buckets, I mean, you know your value brands, which I think is 30% of volumes, your mainstream brands, and then what, above mainstream. So, you can give color in that regard. And then, related to that, whether – you can also answer the same question on a channel basis relative to the trends in the first half, did on-premise worsen more than off-premise? I suppose the hurricanes affect more on-premise business than off-premise. If you can comment on that please, Gavin. And if I may – I'm allowed, will like to ask a follow-up. Thanks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

I'm not sure who's in charge with follow-ups, Pablo, but, Gavin, why don't you take that one?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · SIG. Please go ahead.

Okay. Lots of questions within that one question limit mark. So, let me try and address it. Look, I mean our third quarter STR volumes were down 2.9%. It was a little worse than the earlier track record and I think it's safe to say that the industry had a tough summer. If you look at the various components in the three segments as you call it out, economy, we're very pleased with the progress we've made in economy. We've set our target two years ago that we wanted to halve the decline in our economy portfolio and maintain share and we've achieved that and in fact we grew share in the third quarter. So we're very pleased with that outcome. Premium Light's had a tough summer for a variety of reasons. There was a significant discounting from a spirits point of view. On-premise traffic, to answer your channel-specific question, had declined during the prior year. Millennials are going out less. Latino shoppers changed their shopping behavior in 2017. We'd – certainly, we're impacted by the two hurricanes that we had, which would obviously have a short-term negative impact on the industry, but a more positive impact going forward. And, again, on above-premium, we're making really nice progress on this. Blue Moon continues to grow and grow well. It's one of the few large craft brands in the country that are growing and we're pleased with that turnaround. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy had a record summer. So, we were very pleased with the performance of that brand. Our four craft companies are doing really well and we've got Peroni, which has got growth, which is accelerating. Redd's needs more work from our side, but Redd's Wicked is doing particularly well. And we're excited by our proposition with Hard Soda and with Sparkling sell-throughs and believe both of those brands and the category are here to stay. So, I think I covered most of your questions in that answer, Pablo and Mark.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah.

Pablo Zuanic - Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP

Analyst · SIG. Please go ahead.

As you are trying to address the – as you're trying to improve the STR trends, I mean, obviously value and above-mainstream are doing better than before, right? But overall trends are not improving, they are worsening. So, the key issue boils down to Miller Lite and Coors Light and is that brand-specific or is it segment-specific? Thanks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Well, we're very pleased with our performance on Miller Lite in particular. It continues to grow share and it's doing well in a declining segment. Coors Light has admittedly had a challenging year, but we believe we've got the right campaign with Climb On and we need to build on that campaign and bring the world's most refreshing beer more directly to the fore. So, we're very happy with our two offerings in the Premium Light segment, Pablo.

Operator

Operator

A follow-up question from Mark Swartzberg with Stifel Financial. Please go ahead. Mark David Swartzberg - Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.: Great. Thank you for taking that. Just clarity, I didn't catch it, Tracey, the CapEx coming down, order of magnitude $100 million. Were you saying that's a timing issue? Will it show up next year? And in the higher-end of the tax rate guide, I know this is a second question, but is that a view for the longer term? Should we just think about your tax rate being a little higher beyond this year?

Tracey Joubert - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. Hi, Mark. So, yeah, just to recap on the CapEx, so this is not timing. We identified ways to achieve our cost savings and synergies and while spending less in our CapEx on both at our breweries and in the RT space (46:09). So, it is a reduction, a true reduction in 2017. In terms of tax rates, so, yeah, the underlying tax rate is at the higher-end of what our previous guidance was. This is really relating to geography mix. A lot of our or most of our income comes from the U.S. at the higher tax rate. And then, also, we had some discrete items in 2016 and 2017. 2016 was favorable and 2017 was negative, which did drive that. In terms of going forward, we will update our tax guidance next year. So, I'll leave that until then, Mark. Mark David Swartzberg - Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.: Very, very helpful. Thanks, Tracey.

Operator

Operator

The next question is a follow-up from Bryan Spillane with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Bryan D. Spillane - Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Hi. Thanks for taking the follow-up. Actually, I have two, if that's okay. One is just a simple, and maybe I missed this, but did you quantify in the U.S. how much you think the storms affected your STWs and STRs?

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

We didn't, Bryan, and I think if you're looking for comparisons or read-across from ourself against our biggest competitor, clearly, there was slightly different circumstances because our major breweries in the areas that were affected by hurricanes weren't really impacted in the same way. So, I mean clearly, there's been some impact, but we didn't call it out as a material impact on our volume performance.

Bryan D. Spillane - Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Okay. And there's no ongoing effect at this point, you're back to normal service levels in Florida. And I guess Puerto Rico would be the one area where that's not the case, but, for the most part, you're back to normal service levels.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. I mean, Puerto Rico, as you say, and some of the other Caribbean islands, which are important markets for us, are struggling to get back on their feet. And that's going to be kind of a longer path back to normality there. I think it's fair to say in the U.S., our distributors are working very hard to get back to normal service. Gavin, I don't know whether you'd want to offer any color on that one?

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

Yeah, we're back to normal service, Mark, across the board. And from a brewery point of view, as you said, we have virtually no disruptions at our Fort Worth brewery and the Albany brewery was down for two days, but picked back up very quickly. So, no real impact.

Bryan D. Spillane - Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Okay. Great. Thank you.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks.

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst

Thanks, Bryan.

Operator

Operator

The next question is a follow-up from Pablo Zuanic with SIG. Please go ahead.

Pablo Zuanic - Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP

Analyst

Thank you. Just for Tracey. So, I look at EBITDA margin expansion in MillerCoors in the third quarter, very impressive given that you had this operating deleverage with shipments being down 7%, but that's being masked, obviously, by this doubling of corporate expenses. So, two questions there. When we think about 2018, are those corporate expenses continue to be a headwind or are they going to be pretty much flat year-on-year in absolute terms? And the second question related to all of this, we talk about shifting media from production to customer-facing and those type of things, but how are these corporate expenses, whether we call them centers of excellence or other things, how are they going to help the top line anyway? Thanks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Okay. So, Pablo, let me pick up on that. So, firstly, we haven't doubled underlying corporate expenses. There's a chunk in there's, it's about $35 million, which is really one-time cost related to some of the synergy capture. So, you've got to make sure that you reverse that out. And we were very clear earlier this year that if you look at our corporate G&A line, there's a difference of about $50 million year-on-year based on the guidance. About 40% of that is really a shift in costs around our business as we've moved some people who were working at a business unit-specific level to take on broader global jobs. So, that's just really a movement of money around our business. Another slice of that relates to our global growth team and a big piece of that investment relates to the Miller trademark globally, so as we pull that brand into our business. I mentioned on the script that we're changing the packaging on Miller Lite in 20 countries concurrently. That's a massive effort. And we're driving that centrally, because it's the fastest way to kind of deploy that kind of change in the marketplace. So, the investment behind the Miller trademark will remain in that corporate cost. So, again, that doesn't become an incremental headwind as we go into 2018. I think, clearly, we've got start-up costs for things like a World Class Supply Chain 2.0, introduction of global shared services and again, they are now embedded in our cost structure for this year and are not a headwind as we go into next year. We'll update on our guidance for 2018 corporate G&A in February, but we'll be working very hard to make sure that that's kind of contained, at worse, flat and more to follow in the specifics around that in due course.

Pablo Zuanic - Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP

Analyst

Thank you.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Pablo.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Vivien Azer with Cowen. Please go ahead. Vivien Azer - Cowen & Co. LLC: Hi.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hey, Vivien. Vivien Azer - Cowen & Co. LLC: Thank you for the follow-up. Just in terms of your comment, Mark, on the exploratory committee or working group on candidates, one, can you tell us when that was established? And number two, do they have any early insights into U.S. dynamics, because you've got three years of overlap in the U.S. and more than that even? And then, even in – like a – a market like Nevada, we just opened up July 1, the early indications at least from the tax revenue office in Nevada is that liquor tax did come in below expectations. Thanks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Vivien, are you sure you haven't changed jobs, because this is a high focus for you, that's for sure. Vivien Azer - Cowen & Co. LLC: Well, I do believe in the interaction. I think you know that. Yeah.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. I mean I'm not going to get into when we established the team, et cetera. I mean, clearly, as we look across the landscape of both opportunities and challenges, where we've got people working on a whole variety of fronts, which includes this front, so I don't think I need to go into the detail on that. Clearly, in Colorado, we're actually seeing the beer industry relatively healthy. So, it's very difficult if you look across different states in the U.S. to get a consistent read. So, we've got a team of people working on it. There's a range of insights are being developed. And as I've said, we'll work through the implications, both good, bad or indifferent, and more to follow on that. I just don't want to be drawn on it. I think it's competitively sensitive. And as I've said, we've got to be deliberate and thoughtful about how we respond in due course. So, more to follow in due course and I really don't think there's any value in getting into any of the detail beyond that at this stage.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Robert Ottenstein with Evercore. Please go ahead.

Robert Ottenstein - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. I think we all understand that the summer was particularly weak. Our contacts with distributors over the last couple of weeks suggest that business picked up reasonably nicely in October in the U.S. Can you confirm that?

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Hey, Robert, I think you're aware we stopped giving kind of short-term volume guidance. I mean, you've got access to the news and data the same as we are. So, we're not going to be drawn on a few weeks' trends. I just refer you to the publicly available news and data.

Robert Ottenstein - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Okay. Let me try something else then. Going back to revenue per hectoliter, you also had pretty strong results in Europe on the revenue per hectoliter side and I don't know how much of that is kind of on an organic basis or if there were sort of one-time items or things that weren't comparable, but perhaps you could give us some insight there.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Sure. And I'll let Simon talk to the Europe performance, which has been consistently strong as we've come through 2017. So, Simon, do you want to talk about the portfolio approach and the balance that you're leaving for across the P&L?

Simon Cox - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Yeah. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Robert. So, I mean your question was – I think, Robert, pointing to, is it one-off or is it underlying? If you looked at Q2, I think (55:18) was up 3.7% and in this quarter, it's up 4.1%. So, we're posting fairly consistent results. We've done that really through a mix of price and mix. So, our pricing was up 1.7% in the quarter. Our mix is up 2.4%. And you would have heard us talk, I think, very consistently now about our attempt to premiumize our portfolio. So, if you look at our premium brands, they were up double-digit in the quarter. If you look at our craft brands, they were up high-single digit. Cider continues to work well for us and generally as a premiumization opportunity in the UK. Our core brands performed well and they were competitive in the marketplace. And we have been thoughtful about our value brands and actually they declined at low-single digits in the quarter, which we are very comfortable with. So, if you put all that together, we think that's the right sort of pricing, mix and volume curve, because, as you know, we also grew volume strongly and we continue to try and do that in Europe and manage with a balanced portfolio, investing behind our brands, premiumizing our portfolio, driving craft and making sure that we're not fueling any move towards value in some of our Eastern European markets. That worked well in Q1, worked well in Q2, worked well in Q3. So, I would describe it as an organic underlying trend that we're leading for. And to your very question, there aren't some funnies or some (56:50) one-offs in there.

Robert Ottenstein - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

That's terrific. Congratulations on the great result.

Simon Cox - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Thank you.

Gavin Hattersley - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Robert.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Thanks, Robert. Rachel, back to you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mark Hunter for any closing remarks.

Mark R. Hunter - Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Management

Yeah. Thanks, Rachel, and thank you to everybody for joining us today for your interest in the Molson Coors Brewing Company and we look forward to speaking with you again at our forthcoming investor meetings and as we get to our Q4 results. So, thanks for your interest. Bye for now, everybody.

Operator

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.