Ambev is more profitable than giants such as Coca-Cola

The fact of having sold less beer last year did not prevent the Ambev consolidated as the most profitable company of Latin America in 2013 and as the third ranking which also covers North American companies. According to a survey of consulting on Monday released 24 Economática, Ambev is ahead of giants like Apple, Coca Cola, Pepsico, Amazon, Microsoft and Walmart. Second only to IBM and to the u.s. retailer Home Depot.
The company, founded by the trio Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira, is the only Brazilian in the list which considered only companies with market value exceeding $ 100 billion. The manufacturer of beverages reached last year, a return on equity (ROE) of 29%. This is an important indicator of performance of enterprises which, in short, shows how much a company can grow by using only what she already has.
Last year, the largest brewer in the country grossed US $ 34.8 billion and profited $ 11.35 billion-9% more than in the previous year. Financial indicators recorded high despite the fall of 2.7% in sales of beer in the Brazilian market.
Despite the weaker market, Ambev has maintained its profitability in 2013. "The main factor that helps explain this situation is the iron fist with which the firm manages its costs," says Catarina Pedrosa, an analyst with Banco Espírito Santo. "Besides, she always passes on inflation and increase taxes for prices and virtually no debt."
The consecrated Ambev's management model, which put her in the lead of the sale of beer in Brazil, with 68 percent of the market, was created by Jorge Paulo Lemann, in the Decade of 1980. Based on the tripod "lean work structure, efficiency and meritocracy", the model was applied first in the warranty and, after the institution was sold in all the other businesses purchased by businessman.
Most profitable
Who leads the ranking of profitability of Economática is IBM technology giant, with an ROE of 78.65%. The company is experiencing a period of transition, which is reducing its hardware operation, less profitable, focusing on software services like cloud storage. "The gain with software, for example, is three times larger," says Analyst William Fields, Frost & Sullivan. The last card of the company in this direction was the sale to Lenovo from low cost servers.
Secondly, also in front of Ambev, is the American retailer Home Depot, home products, with a profitability of 33.76%.
The company faced difficulties before the American housing crisis, a situation that made her do a restructuring before the competitors. Home Depot changed its entire network of suppliers, the staff and increased the variety of goods on the shelves. With the u.s. housing market recovery over the past two years, the network had a head start. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo.