E-Malt.com Flash 17b. April 28

USA: Anheuser-Busch Cos. reported First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. reported first quarter sales and earnings results on April 27 at its annual meeting of shareholders held in Williamsburg, Va. Consolidated net sales increased 2.5 % in the first quarter and reported earnings per share decreased 3.0 percent. Excluding one-time gains in both 2005 and 2004, first quarter earnings per share decreased 4.5 %.

"Anheuser-Busch had a challenging first quarter in its domestic beer business," said Patrick Stokes, president and chief executive officer of the company. "The domestic beer industry and Anheuser-Busch experienced volume declines and higher commodity cost pressures. The company has a number of initiatives in place to enhance beer volume growth, including introduction of new products, led by Budweiser Select, increased investments in domestic marketing, stepped up on premise sales initiatives, new packaging and tactical price promotions. We are confident the company will successfully restore its volume and market share growth momentum, and we are forecasting earnings per share growth in the low single digit percent range for 2005, excluding the one-time gains."

Domestic beer sales-to-wholesalers decreased 2.7 % for the first quarter 2005 vs. the first quarter 2004, to 24.4 million barrels. Wholesaler inventories at the end of the first quarter were about one-and-one-half days higher than at the end of the first quarter last year, representing a reduction of approximately one day versus the two-and-one-half day differential at the end of 2004. Wholesaler sales-to-retailers were down 1.0 percent in the first quarter vs. 2004 on a comparable selling day basis due to generally weak industry volume conditions and the comparison with the strong performance of Michelob ULTRA last year. Bud family sales-to-retailers increased in the first quarter 2005, driven by solid Bud Light growth and the national introduction in late February of Budweiser Select ...more info

Colombia: Grupo Empresarial Bavaria (GEB) Announces First Quarter 2005 Earnings

Grupo Empresarial Bavaria, GEB, the largest beverage company in Colombia and the second-largest brewer in South America, announced on April 29 increases in sales volumes, net sales...more info

China: Tsingtao Brewery net profit increased by about 8% in Q1 2005

Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China's leading brewery in terms of revenue, announced on April 28 its first-quarter net profit increased by 7.99 % to 68.92 million yuan (US$8.3 million) versus 63.81 million yuan the previous year, based on Chinese accounting standards. Earnings per share stood at 0.065 yuan, up 7.97 pct year-on-year. Total revenue rose 12.82 pct year-on-year to 2.03 bln yuan, against 1.8 bln yuan a year earlier.

Tsingtao, in which Anheuser-Busch has a 27 % stake, controls about 13 % of China beer market. The brewer produced and sold 755 million litres of beer in the first three months of the year, up 4.86 % year on year.

Tsingtao gave no financial outlook for the full year. Its total assets were valued at 10.39 bln yuan at the end of March, up 5.18 % compared to 9.88 bln yuan at the end of 2004.

The company said it would continue to adjust its product mix and improve quality to fight growing competition in China, the world's biggest beer market by volume.

China's beer industry is growing by roughly 7 to 10 % a year and has attracted a flood of overseas investment over the past few years.

U.S. giant Anheuser-Busch raised its stake in Tsingtao to 27 % from 9 % by exercising convertible bonds worth US$145.56 million earlier this month. Last year, it bought number-four China beer maker Harbin Brewery for US$720 million after a takeover battle with arch-rival SABMiller .

Tsingtao's Hong Kong shares ended down 0.6 percent at HK$8.35 and were down about 2 percent in the past three months.

Russia: Heineken N/V could acquire Russia’s mid-sized brewery Patra

Dutch beer giant, Heineken N/V is in talks with Alfa-Eco Group to acquire Russian brewery OAO Patra, business media Kommersant reported on April 29...more info

Poland: Bryggerigruppen completes the acquisition of assets and activities from Browary Polskie Brok-Strzelec

The Danish Brewery Group (Bryggerigruppen) A/S announced on April 27 it has completed the acquisition of assets and activities from Browary Polskie Brok-Strzelec S.A.

On April 4 2005 The Danish Brewery Group announced its acquisition of assets and activities from the Polish brewery business Browary Polskie Brok-Strzelec S.A. was subject to, among other things, approval from the Polish competition authorities. The required approvals have now been obtained and the transaction has been completed.

The Danish Brewery Group’s CEO, Poul, Moller said: “The acquisition of assets and activities related to Brok-Strzelec and the establishment of regional brand positions in Poland are elements of the realisation of MACH II, the new strategic platform of The Danish Brewery Group. In connection with the acquisition, The Danish Brewery Group also acquired 48% of the share capital of Perla-Browary Lubelskie S.A., a regional beer brand that is strong in the Lublin area.” The deal with Perla-Browary Lubelskie values DKK106 million.

Bryggerigruppen agreed to pay DKK217 million (US37.6 million) for the brewery-related assets and activities of Polskie Brok-Strzelec.

Latin America: Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa) registered 7.1% beer volumes increase in Q1 2005

Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa) S.A. announced on April 26 its overall beer volumes for the first quarter 2005 increased by 7.1% to 4.76 million hl compared to 4.45 million hl in Q1 2004...more info

Malt News

Australia: 2004/2005 malt exports from Australia are forecast at 538.5 thousand tonnes

2004/2005 Malt exports from Australia, the world’s second largest malt exporter after EU, are forecast by IGC at 538.5 thousand tonnes...more info

Barley News

World: A smaller, but above-average, global barley crop for 2005/06 is forecast

The International Grain Council (IGC) forecast a smaller, but above-average, global barley crop for 2005/06...more info

Canada: CWB released its pool return outlook for barley

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) released on April 28 its Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for Feed Barley Pool B for the 2004-05 crop year. The Feed Barley Pool B PRO is C$6 per tonne higher compared to the March PRO.

Limited old crop exportable supplies from Australia and the U.S. have caused prices in the Pacific Northwest to remain firm. Weaker ocean freight rates are also supportive but new crop price pressure from Europe and the Black Sea is expected shortly.

The CWB released on April 28 its monthly Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2005-06 crop year. The PRO for the 2005-06 feed barley Pool A is up C$4 per tonne while malting barley PROs are unchanged.

Expectations for Pacific Northwest feed barley prices have improved this month as the U.S. is expected to seed one of its smallest barley crops since 1926, reducing their presence in export markets.

EU new crop malting barley prices have eased due to sufficient old crop supplies and good growing conditions. Expectations for the smaller U.S. seeded area will increase malting barley production risk and import potential. Dryness in Australia is already causing some concerns but it is premature to draw conclusions.