AB InBev has hailed the “strength of the beer category” as the brewing business posted an increase in sales for the previous year.

The beer giant, known for popular drinks such as Budweiser, Corona, Becks and Stella Artois, experienced a dip in profits to £1.313bn ($1.661bn) in its fourth quarter compared to last year’s £1.375bn ($1.739bn).

However, its full-year results saw a profit of £4.87bn ($6.158bn) – up from £4.815bn ($6.093bn) in 2022 – while sales also increased by 7.8% during the full financial year.

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The results were well received by chief executive Michel Doukeris, who praised its beer portfolio for bolstering AB InBev’s ability to cut debt by a further $1.8bn, bringing “additional flexibility” to its capital allocation choices.

Doukeris said: “Our business delivered another year of consistent profitable growth with a revenue increase of 7.8% and EBITDA growth of 7.0%. Strong free cash flow generation enabled us to progress on our deleveraging, propose an increased dividend to our shareholders and execute on a 1 billion USD share buyback.

“Our results are a testament to the strength of the beer category, resilience of our business and people, consistent execution of our replicable growth drivers and our unwavering commitment to invest for long-term growth and value creation.”

Earlier this year, AB InBev rolled out Corona-branded fridges in 70 Sainsbury’s stores following the company being named the first official beer partner of the Olympics.