DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Molson Coors Brewing Co.'s (TAP) first-quarter earnings more than doubled on increased prices and what the company called "substantial" cost cuts.

Beer drinking has been a slow-growth industry in the Western world for some time, with many established brands losing market share to local upstarts. That has helped drive a consolidation push in the industry, highlighted by Anheuser-Busch's acquisition last year by InBev.

At the same time, Molson Coors and SABMiller PLC (SAB.JO) combined their U.S. brewing operations to create a more formidable presence against Anheuser. But the Budweiser brewer was still the one with stronger first-quarter retail sales, including its sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), according to Information Resources Inc.

That MillerCoors combination earlier Tuesday said sales volume fell 1.9% despite a 0.4% rise to retailers as its Miller Genuine Draft brand reported its first volume growth in a decade.

Molson Coors' first-quarter earnings were $75.7 million, or 41 cents a share, compared with $34.3 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. The results included losses from discontinued operations of 2 cents and 5 cents, respectively.

Net sales fell 59% to $559 million because of the MillerCoors venture, as global volume fell 2.7%.

The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of 33 cents a share and revenue of $568 million.

Gross margin slid to 38.1% from 38.4% while overhead costs slumped 58% on the venture.

In Canada, home to the Molson brand, pretax profit fell 9.4% as volume was flat.

Molson Coors' shares closed Monday at $38.50 and haven't traded premarket.

-By Kevin Kingsbury and Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2136; kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com