AB InBev rose on Thursday morning on the Brussels Stock Exchange, with the mixed Q3 results unveiled by the world's leading brewer more than offset by the announcement of a new share buyback program and the payment of an interim dividend.

In a press release published before the market opened, the owner of brands including Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Corona announced that its board of directors had approved a $6 billion share buyback plan to be executed over the next 24 months, in addition to the repayment of approximately $2 billion in outstanding bonds.

The American-Belgian group also plans to pay an interim dividend of €0.15 per share for the 2025 financial year.

These cash returns to shareholders offset mixed Q3 results, notably marked by a 3.7% decline in sales volume, compared with a consensus forecast of a 3.1% decline.

Revenues rose 0.6% to €15.1bn, but fell short of analysts' expectations, which averaged €15.2bn.

In terms of the income statement, normalized EBITDA rose 3.3% to €5.6bn, compared with €5.4bn anticipated, with an 85bp increase in margin to 37%, again exceeding the consensus forecast of 35.6%.

As a result, AB InBev shares rose 1.1% on Thursday morning, outperforming the BEL 20 index, which was up 0.6%.