FEMSA Closes 2011 With Double-Digit Revenue and Operating Income Growth Across Operations

MONTERREY, MEXICO--(Marketwire - Feb 27, 2012) - Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. ("FEMSA") (NYSE: FMX) (BMV: FEMSAUB) (BMV: FEMSAUBD) announced today its operational and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011.

Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights:

• FEMSA consolidated total revenues and income from operations grew 24.5% and 24.9%, respectively, compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
  
  
• Coca-Cola FEMSA income from operations increased 27.9% driven by double-digit operating income growth in the South America and Mexico & Central America divisions, including the integration of Grupo Tampico and CIMSA in Mexico.
  
  
• FEMSA Comercio achieved total revenues growth of 16.9% and income from operations growth of 15.7% driven by new store openings and 8.0% growth in same-store sales.
  

2011 Full Year Highlights:

• FEMSA consolidated total revenues and income from operations grew 19.6% and 19.4%, respectively, compared to 2010 driven by Coca-Cola FEMSA and FEMSA Comercio.
  
  
• Coca-Cola FEMSA income from operations increased 18.0%. Strong growth in the South America division was the main driver, combined the integration of Grupo Tampico and CIMSA in Mexico.
  
  
• FEMSA Comercio continued its pace of strong floor space growth by opening 1,135 net new stores in 2011. Income from operations increased 20.7%.
  
  
• Ordinary dividend of Ps. 6.200 billion proposed by FEMSA's Board of Directors, to be paid in 2012 subject to approval at the annual shareholders meeting in March 2012, representing an increase of 34.8% over the prior year and 138.5% over the dividend paid in 2010.
  
  

José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, Chairman and CEO of FEMSA, commented: "2011 was a strong year for our company. Despite a volatile economic environment, demand for our products remained healthy, and we stayed the course and managed to convert that demand into robust financial results by focusing our time, efforts and resources on the extraordinary opportunities for Coca-Cola FEMSA and OXXO.

"For Coca-Cola FEMSA, this was a historic year. We leveraged our financial and operating flexibility to firmly advance on our strategy to grow through accretive mergers and acquisitions -- from our incursion into the dairy category through our joint acquisition of Grupo Industrias Lacteas in Panama to our mergers with the beverage divisions of Grupo Tampico, Grupo CIMSA, and Grupo Fomento Queretano in Mexico. And at FEMSA Comercio, our robust top-line growth in 2011 was driven by our continuing store expansion and our comparable same-store sales growth of 9.2 percent, ahead of trend and reinforcing our position as an industry benchmark. Our progress in mapping and understanding consumers' needs and adjusting our value proposition to better fulfill those needs significantly contributed to our same store sales growth. We also made great strides in our sustainability efforts, from launching joint watershed-conservation initiatives with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the Nature Conservancy, to making significant progress in our renewable energy projects, particularly wind power, to ensuring that every one of our managers now incorporates sustainability objectives in their annual performance metrics.

"And so we look at 2012 with optimism and renewed energy, ready to keep moving our company forward by pursuing and overcoming new challenges."

To obtain the full text of this earnings release, please visit our Investor Relations website a
www.femsa.com/investor under the Financial Reports section.

This report may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning our future performance that should be considered as good faith estimates made by us. These forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based upon currently available data. Actual results are subject to future events and uncertainties, which could materially impact our actual performance.

FEMSA is a leading company that participates in the non-alcoholic beverage industry through Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest independent bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world in terms of sales volume; in the retail industry through FEMSA Comercio, operating the largest and fastest-growing chain of convenience stores in Latin America, and in the beer industry, through its ownership of the second largest equity stake in Heineken, one of the world's leading brewers with operations in over 70 countries.