[buffett]

I now realize that I didn't answer your question, which was more mechanical than philosophical than I at first realized.....actually, you kind of answered it yourself:

BUD has been issuing debt to buy back stock.

Look at each component of book value:

Common Stock and Capital Surplus stay roughly flat, as they should since BUD hasn't issued much new stock.
Retained Earnings grows, as it should since (earnings - dividends) is positive.
Treasury Stock shrinks, as it should since they've been buying back stock like crazy.

Usually overall book value for BUD shrinks each year approximately by the difference between growth in retained earnings and shrinkage of treasury stock.
-web