DENVER (AP) _ Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $163.7 million.

On a per-share basis, the Denver-based company said it had profit of 75 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1.02 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 76 cents per share.

The beer maker posted revenue of $3.09 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $2.49 billion, which did not meet Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.5 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $241.7 million, or $1.11 per share. Revenue was reported as $10.58 billion.

Molson Coors shares have increased almost 8% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased almost 4%. The stock has dropped 11% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TAP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TAP

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News