SAB’s revenue inched up 5% YoY in Q1 2018 with its beer sales rising slightly by 3% YoY. However, operating profit fell 8% YoY mainly because GPM shrank from a high base of 28.3% in Q1 2017 to 24.9% in Q1 2018, which was also below full-year 2017’s GPM of 25.9%. On the other hand, the bottom line was partly bolstered by a threefold increase in shared profits from associates.