Alcohol stocks drop after US surgeon general calls for cancer warnings (updated)

Boston Beer

03/01/2025 15:17

(Adds shares of U.S.-listed companies in paragraphs 4,5)
       Jan 3 (Reuters) - Shares of European and American
spirits makers and brewers fell on Friday after the U.S. surgeon
general called for cancer warnings on the labels of alcoholic
drinks.
    The consumption of alcoholic drinks increases the risk of
developing breast, colon, liver and other cancers, U.S. Surgeon
General Vivek Murthy said in an advisory.
    "For certain cancers, like breast, mouth, and throat
cancers, evidence shows that the risk of developing cancer may
start to increase around one or fewer drinks per day," according
to the advisory. 
    Shares of Jack Daniel's parent Brown-Forman  BFb.N  slipped
nearly 3% to $37.10 in early U.S. trading hours, hitting their
lowest since April 2017, while Coors Light beer maker Molson
Coors  TAP.N  fell 4%. 
        Constellation Brands  STZ.N , the maker of Corona beer,
was down 1.3% while Boston Beer  SAM.N  slumped nearly 6%, its
biggest drop since last February. 
    In Europe, shares in the world's top spirits maker Diageo
 DGE.L  were down some 3% to their lowest since mid-December at
1352 GMT, after falling as much as 4.1% earlier.
    French spirits maker Pernod Ricard  PERP.PA , which owns
Martell cognac, Mumm champagne and Absolut vodka, was down
around 3.2%, while its peer Remy  RCOP.PA  and Italian spirits
group Campari  CPRI.MI  were both down around 3.8%.
    Brewers were also hit, with Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch
InBev  ABI.BR  down around 2%, and Heineken  HEIN.AS  and
Carlsberg  CARLb.CO  down between 1% and 1.5%.

 (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk and Savyata Mishra in
Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton and Devika Syamnath)
 ((anna.pruchnicka@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 65 14;))