AB InBev Doubles Dividend Despite Profit Fall

According to the Associated Press, the world''s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev saw fourth-quarter net profit fall by 24 percent largely on lower asset sales. Investors were pleased hear that the dividend was more than doubled and that growth in Brazil and Asia was compensating for a more subdued performance in the U.S. and Europe. The brewer of beers like Budweiser and Stella Artois reported Thursday that its net profit fell to $968 million from $1.28 billion a year earlier. The decline, largely due to higher taxes, masked the fact that the company''s revenues rose to $9.47 billion from $9.30 billion, despite a modest decline in sales volumes. Though the company''s full-year net profit dropped to $4.03 billion from euro4.61 billion, it more than doubled its annual dividend to 80 cents from 38 cents in 2009 as its has to repay less debt this year.