April 30 (Reuters) - Molson Coors ( TAP/A ) surpassed Wall

Street estimates for first-quarter sales and profit on Tuesday,

helped by higher prices as well as steady demand for the beer

maker's brands such as Coors Light and Miller Lite.

The company also reaffirmed its full-year sales and profit

forecasts.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Beer makers such as Molson Coors ( TAP/A ) and peer Constellation

Brands ( STZ ) have been consistently hiking prices in order to

protect their margins from rising costs of production, even as

some of those expenses are beginning to drop from their peaks.

CONTEXT

Consumers have been willing to stretch their budgets a

little more to purchase Molson's products given that beers are

generally considered as recession-proof.

In February, the company said it was expecting to gain more

shelf space at retailers going in to the spring.

KEY QUOTE

"Strong Americas volume and favorable net pricing...

resulted in double-digit top-line growth, while volume leverage

and ongoing cost savings drove meaningful margin expansion in

the quarter," said CFO Tracey Joubert.

BY THE NUMBERS

Its net sales for the quarter was about $2.60 billion, ahead

of analysts' average estimate of $2.50 billion, according to

LSEG data.

The company posted an adjusted profit of 95 cents per share,

beating expectations of 74 cents.

Brand volumes in the Americas segment increased 5.3% in the

first quarter, including a 5.8% increase in the U.S.

Molson continues to expect its 2024 net sales to rise in the

low single-digit percentage range over the prior year on a

constant currency basis.