AHB Anheuser-Busch

    Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Announces More Aggressive Leverage Target and 
             New Multi-Year 100 Million Share Repurchase Program 
 
       Company Reiterates Long-Term Earnings per Share Growth Objective 
 
    ST. LOUIS, Dec. 21 -- August A. Busch IV, president and chief executive 
officer of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD), announced today that the Board 
of Directors has approved a new, more aggressive leverage target to enhance 
shareholder value. The company intends to modestly increase leverage and reduce 
its cash flow to total debt target from the previous 30 to 40 percent range to 
the 25 to 30 percent range.  
    "The more aggressive leverage target will enable Anheuser-Busch to use its 
balance sheet more efficiently to support existing operations, acquisitions, 
dividend growth and share repurchasing, while maintaining substantial 
financial flexibility," said Busch. "Our first priority is to invest in our 
businesses to enhance profit growth. This includes capital expenditures in 
existing operations, and acquisitions and investments to enhance our long-term 
earnings growth. The second priority is to return cash to shareholders by 
consistently increasing dividends in line with expected growth in earnings per 
share, and share repurchasing, consistent with the new leverage target." 
    "Investing for growth which enhances competitive advantage and increases 
economic value added is our primary focus," added Busch. "We are sharply 
focused on increasing shareholder value through profit growth and capital 
efficiency. In 2006, capital spending was reduced by over $300 million to 
about $825 million. This was done without compromising productivity 
improvement, which reduced annual costs by about $100 million in 2006," Busch 
said.  
    In conjunction with the more aggressive leverage target, the Board of 
Directors of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. has approved a new 100 million share 
repurchase program. The program follows a similar 100 million share program 
authorized in March 2003. Approximately 15 million shares remain open under 
the 2003 program (bringing total open authorized repurchases to approximately 
115 million shares). 
    The new 100 million share repurchase program represents approximately  
13 percent of outstanding common stock. Anheuser-Busch has been repurchasing 
stock since 1984. Approximately 3.6 percent of shares outstanding have been 
repurchased annually over the five-year period ending in 2005. The company 
expects to repurchase about $2.5 billion of stock during 2007, subject to the 
level of business investment. Although the company does not give short-term 
earnings guidance, it continues to target 7 to 10 percent annual earnings per 
share growth over the long-term. 
 
    Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer. The 
company brews the world's largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. 
Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading 
brewer, and a 27 percent share in Tsingtao, the leading premium brewer in 
China. The company also is one of the largest theme park operators in the 
United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum beverage cans and one of 
the world's largest recyclers of aluminum cans. For more information, visit 
http://www.anheuser-busch.com . 
 
    This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's 
expectations concerning its future operations, earnings and prospects. On the 
date the forward-looking statements are made, the statements represent the 
company's expectations, but the company's expectations concerning its future 
operations, earnings and prospects may change. The company's expectations 
involve risks and uncertainties (both favorable and unfavorable) and are based 
on many assumptions that the company believes to be reasonable, but such 
assumptions may ultimately prove to be inaccurate or incomplete, in whole or 
in part. Accordingly, there can be no assurances that the company's 
expectations and the forward-looking statements will be correct. Important 
factors that could cause actual results to differ (favorably or unfavorably) 
from the expectations stated in this release include, among others, changes in 
the pricing environment for the company's products; changes in U.S. demand for 
malt beverage products, including changes in U.S. demand for other alcohol 
beverages; changes in consumer preference for the company's malt beverage 
products; changes in the cost of marketing the company's malt beverage 
products; regulatory or legislative changes, including changes in beer excise 
taxes at either the federal or state level and changes in income taxes; 
changes in the litigation to which the company is a party; changes in raw 
materials prices; changes in packaging materials costs; changes in energy 
costs; changes in the financial condition of the company's suppliers; changes 
in interest rates; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; unusual weather 
conditions that could impact beer consumption in the U.S.; changes in 
attendance and consumer spending patterns for the company's theme park 
operations; changes in demand for aluminum beverage containers; changes in the 
company's international beer business or in the beer business of the company's 
international equity partners; changes in the economies of the countries in 
which the company's international beer business or its international equity 
partners operate; changes in the company's credit rating resulting from future 
acquisitions or divestitures; and the effect of stock market conditions on the 
company's share repurchase program. Anheuser-Busch disclaims any obligation to 
update or revise any of these forward-looking statements. Additional risk 
factors concerning the company can be found in the company's most recent Form 
10-K. 
 
SOURCE  Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. 
    -0-                             12/21/2006 
    CONTACT:  Maureen Roth, of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., +1-314-765-6195 
    Web site:  http://www.anheuser-busch.com  
    (BUD) 




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