Molson Coors Plans To Stay Flexible On Cash Use

Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) plans to stay flexible in its use of cash and will weigh a variety of options for its capital, including buybacks and acquisitions, its chief executive said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

Peter Swinburn says the Denver-based company is open to "smart acquisitions." Molson Coors hasn't made any changes to its position on Australia's Foster's Group Ltd. (FBRWY), he says. Late last year the company disclosed that it had built up a 5% exposure to Foster's via a swap.

"It's a whole menu of things rather than getting fixated on one or the other," Swinburn says of the company's plans for its cash. "That includes buybacks, it might include dividends, it might include pensions, it might include acquisitions."

The company expects to continue to focus on reducing costs, in addition to the cost benefits it gets from MillerCoors, its U.S. joint venture with SABMiller PLC (SAB.JO).

Despite the weakness in global economies and slide in consumer spending, Swinburn says the company will try to stay away from discounting its brands.

"We will respond market to the market," says Swinburn. Discounting is "the last thing as a company we would think of doing because we have a strong belief it would affect brand equities. If we need to compete, we will compete," he says.

The U.S. beer category is holding up at the moment, Swinburn says, although the U.K. continues to be a tough market.

"We think we see some trading out from spirits and wine into beer," Swinburn says of the U.S.

-By Anjali Cordeiro, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2408; [e-mail]