Speculation is rife that the new owner of Novi Sad-based MB Brewery might be Heineken, according to B92, October 25.

Brewery owners are in negotiations with four big global beer priducers about the sale of their company, MB Advertising Director Vladislava Epifanić has meanwhile confirmed.

The four companies expressed interest a year and a half ago, she said, but declined to reveal their identities "for business reasons."

Epifanić also would not specify if any of the four were already present in the Serbian market.

But Belgrade daily Biznis reported on Wednesday that one of the global leaders in beer production, Holland's Heineken, was "only a step away from acquiring MB Brewery, although executives claim that the contract has not been signed yet."

The Novi Sad brewery was constructed in 2002, and has a production capacity of five million hectoliters of beer, which equals Serbia's annual consumption; therefore no one should be surprised by foreign investors' interest, according to Epifanić.

The Business Register Agency says that MB's assets are worth some EUR 145mn, while its revenues in 2006 amounted to EUR 18.5mn, with a EUR 6.5mn profit.

MB Brewery is owned by Rodić MB Holding.

Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd reported un-audited net profit of 192.71 mln yuan for the third quarter of the year, up 36.6 pct from 141.08 mln achieved a year earlier, on the back of higher sales, Thomson Financial News Limited reported October 26.

The beer maker achieved total operating revenue of 2.61 bln yuan during the three months to September, compared with 1.91 bln a year ago. Earnings per share rose to 0.175 yuan from 0.128.

In the first nine months, it sold 3.17 mln kiloliters of beer, up 16.97 pct from a year ago.

The company posted total revenue of 6.39 bln yuan in the first three quarters, up from 5.12 bln last year, while net profit rose to 386.16 mln yuan from 295.51 mln.

The company did not provide any earnings forecast for the remainder of the year.

(1 usd = 7.49 yuan)

Czech beer output reached 15.08 million hectolitres in the first nine months of 2007, up 1.5% year-on-year, with growth ebbing between July and September, according to data of the Czech Beer and Malt Association, ČTK reported October 25.

In Jan to June, breweries reported record results, output up by nearly 4 percent year-on-year.

"The second half is quite different than the first one," the Association's chairman Jan Vesely told CTK.

The warm weather started much earlier this year compared with last year's winter, he said.

Weather conditions in the second half of the year, however, were more or less similar. Worse results for the period will be mainly affected by a slower growth in beer exports, said Vesely. Figures are not available yet, though, he added.

Beer exports in the first half of the year amounted to 1.78 million hectolitres, a growth of 4.2 percent on the year, while in the same year-ago period it was a two-digit growth.

"Such a growth could not last for ever," said Vesely.

Full-year beer output could possibly rise to 20 million hectolitres, said Vesely. Last year, it totalled 19.8 million.

Canadian domestic feed barley prices, No.1 CW I/S Lethbridge, are forecast at $180-200/t versus $165/t in 2006- 2007, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, October 12. The Lethbridge feed barley price has averaged $182/t to-date for 2007-2008.

Barley prices are expected to be strongly supported throughout 2007- 2008 by low world barley stocks (and coarse grain stocks in general), and high domestic and international feed use demand. However, the strength of the Canadian dollar is expected to pressure Canadian prices in 2007- 2008. In addition, increased imports of corn into western Canada have the potential to pressure feed barley prices.