Molson re-issues financials

Photo: The Canadian Press

Molson Coors Brewing Co. says it has restated its financial results for 2016 and 2017 due to income tax accounting errors.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says for 2016 it understated its deferred tax liability and income tax expense which resulted in an overstatement of its net income by US$399.1 million.

However, Molson Coors says the deferred tax liability required revaluation in 2017 due to U.S. tax changes and that resulted in an overstatement of its income tax expense and understatement of its net income of $151.4 million for the year.

The restated results came as the company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $76.0 million or 35 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $716.9 million or $3.31 per diluted share a year earlier.

Net sales totalled $2.42 billion, down from $2.58 billion.

Molson Coors says its underlying profit for the quarter amounted to 84 cents per diluted share, up from 62 cents per share a year earlier.