SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Companhia de Bebidas das Americas - AmBev [BOVESPA: AMBV4, AMBV3; and NYSE: ABV, ABVc], the world's fifth largest brewer and the leading brewer in Latin America, announces today its results for the third quarter 2007 (Q3 2007). The following financial and operating information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in nominal Reais and prepared in accordance with Brazilian GAAP and should be read in conjunction with our interim report for the three and nine month periods ended on September 30, 2007. In order to facilitate the understanding of our underlying performance, we have enhanced our press release to segregate the impact of organic changes from those arising from changes in scope or currency translation. Scopes represent the impact of acquisitions and divestitures and the start-up or termination of activities. Comparisons, unless otherwise stated, refer to the third quarter of 2006 (Q3 2006). Values in this release may not add up due to rounding. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Continuous volume growth: Our total volumes increased organically by 3.6% during Q3 2007. Brazil and our operations in Quinsa delivered organic volume growth of 4.6% and 7.3%, respectively. North America reported volume growth of 7.6% including the Lakeport acquisition, with organic volumes marginally down on Q3 2006. Top line growth exceeding volume growth: Net sales increased organically by 7.2% during Q3 2007 with our attention to revenue management and the development of the premium segment continuing to deliver positive results. Strong Brand Performance: Focused marketing campaigns and very well-executed proprietary events helped to build preference for our brands. The premium segment continues to post strong growth in Brazil and Quinsa. Cost efficiency: Increases in cost of goods sold from general inflation, product mix, labor costs and the cost of certain raw materials (e.g. corn) were offset by the positive impact of our efficiency initiatives and commodity and currency hedges, leading to an organic increase of only 0.6% on a per hectoliter basis. SG&A (excluding depreciation and amortization) increased organically by 6.3% during Q3 2007, due primarily to higher volumes, inflationary pressures, investments to support innovations and the timing of spend, partly offset by good cost saving results in North America. Double-digit organic growth in EBITDA along with margin expansion: Our EBITDA reached R$1,992.5 million during Q3 2007, which represents an organic increase of 10.6%. Our EBITDA margin continues to expand, improving by 130 basis points organically. All of our main operations improved margins on an organic basis. Strong payout and Financial discipline: During Q3 2007. AmBev returned to shareholders R$286.4 million in buybacks and declared R$ 979.2 million in dividends (payable in October). For the first nine months of the year, total payout was R$ 2.4 billion in buybacks and R$ 1.7 billion in dividends (including declared but not paid dividends). Financial Highlights % % - AmBev Consolidated R$ million 3Q06 3Q07 As Organic reported Total Volumes 30,522.0 32,803.7 7.5% 3.6% Beer 22,298.4 23,970.6 7.5% 3.7% CSD and Nanc 8,223.6 8,833.1 7.4% 3.2% Net Sales 4,337.3 4,641.7 7.0% 7.2% Gross Profit 2,857.8 3,096.7 8.4% 8.7% Gross Margin 65.9% 66.7% 80 bps 90 bps EBITDA 1,824.0 1,992.5 9.2% 10.6% EBITDA margin 42.1% 42.9% 90 bps 130 bps Net Income 486.1 589.8 21.3% No. of shares outstanding (million) 644.6 620.8 -3.7% EPS (R$/shares) 0.75 0.95 26.0% EPS excl. goodwill amortization (R$/shares) 1.28 1.61 26.3% Financial Highlights % % - AmBev Consolidated R$ million 9M07 9M06 As Organic reported Total Volumes 87,926.9 98,860.9 12.4% 4.3% Beer 64,656.9 71,322.9 10.3% 3.4% CSD and Nanc 23,270.1 27,538.0 18.3% 6.9% Net Sales 12,344.2 13,821.8 12.0% 8.8% Gross Profit 8,191.5 9,163.5 11.9% 9.3% Gross Margin 66.4% 66.3% -10 bps 30 bps EBITDA 5,119.3 5,871.7 14.7% 12.2 EBITDA margin 41.5% 42.5% 100 bps 130 bps Net Income 1,625.2 1,684.4 3.6% No. of shares 644.6 620.8 -3.7% outstanding (million) EPS (R$/shares) 2.52 2.71 7.6% EPS excl. goodwill 3.96 4.72 19.2% amortization (R$/shares) Note: Per share calculation is based on outstanding shares (total existing shares excluding shares held in treasury). The full release is available at http://www.ambev-ir.com/ DATASOURCE: Companhia de Bebidas das Americas CONTACT: Michael Findlay, (5511) 2122-1415, , Isabella Amui, (5511) 2122-1414, , both of Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Web site: http://www.ambev.com.br/

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