Lower costs help maintain their dividends

Article Excerpt

Molson Coors and Andrew Peller continue to report slow sales because of the weak economy. However, both companies are finding innovative ways to expand their operations, and both continue to cut costs. These moves should help them maintain or increase their current dividends. MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $46 and TPX.B $46; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 185.6 million; Market cap: $8.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.5%; SI Rating: Average) is the world’s fifth-largest brewer by volume. Its top brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling. The company continues to enjoy the benefits of two mergers: In February 2005, Molson merged with U.S. brewer Coors. In 2008, it combined its U.S. operations with those of SABMiller to form a new joint venture called MillerCoors. The savings from these two deals are helping the company compete with larger, multinational brewers. To offset slow growth in North America and the U.K., Molson Coors is expanding internationally. In June…