April 29 - Tsingtao Brewery, China's best-known beer brand and No.2 brewer by volume, said its net profit rose 43 percent in the first quarter of 2010, on an expanding profit margin and higher sales, Reuters reported on April, 29.

Analysts are generally positive on Tsingtao due to an upbeat earnings growth outlook on hope of an improvement in gross margins and selling price, and as barley price is seen to remain soft in 2010.

The company's Tsingtao beer has sold strongly since last year, up 15 percent in the first quarter, leading to an improvement in profitability, said the company in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Tsingtao said it aims to target the market for cheaper beers, while trying to maintain its share of the high-end market.

"As the peak season for the sales of beer will come soon, the company will promote the sales of new products and its secondary brand to increase its share in the mid-low-end market," it said.

Tsingtao, China's No.2 brewer by volume after CR Snow, a joint venture between China Resources Enterprises and SAB Miller, said earlier that it is targeting sales volume growth of two percentage points above the industry in ...More Info

Asahi Breweries Ltd. said on April, 30 that it swung into a net profit in the January-March quarter, owing to cutbacks in expenses and higher overseas sales resulting from the purchase of Schweppes.

The Tokyo-based beer maker had a scant group net profit Y4 million, compared with a loss of Y964 million a year earlier.

The company cited efforts to keep a lid on sales promotion expenses, among other cost reductions. In addition, its $774 million purchase of Schweppes, Cadbury PLC's Australian drinks business last year added Y17 billion to its sales in the just-ended quarter.

Sales during the quarter rose 2.4% to Y284.12 billion from Y277.40 billion, while it had an operating loss of Y2.46 billion, compared with a loss of Y4.94 billion a year earlier.

Japanese brewers tend to post relatively low profits, and sometimes losses, in the January-March quarter. Beer demand is usually weak during the period, and breweries spend a lot of money promoting new products ahead of the peak summer season.

For the full business year ending Dec. 31, it left its profit and sales outlook unchanged. It continues to predict a net profit of Y52 billion and sales of Y1.500 trillion.

The company's earnings ...More Info

China’s Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd said several big beer makers have applied to buy a stake in it, Reuters reported on April, 30.

Danish brewer Carlsberg has applied to increase its stake in China's Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd by buying a 12.25 percent state-owned holding. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewer of Budweiser, and China Resources Snow Breweries, a joint venture between China Resources Enterprises Ltd and SABMiller, have also applied to buy the stake, Chongqing Brewery said in a statement carried in the official China Securities Journal.

Carlsberg, which already has a roughly 17.5 percent stake in Chongqing Brewery, had earlier declined to comment on whether it had plans to lift its stake, after Chongqing Brewery announced early this month that its state-owned parent would sell part of its holding.

Raising its stake to roughly 30 percent would make Carlsberg the biggest shareholder in Chongqing Brewery.

Chongqing, the biggest city in western China, is a manufacturing hub and important inland port on the Yangtze River.

The world's biggest brewers have made significant headway into China, the world's biggest beer market, mainly by buying stakes in local companies.

Beer consumption is rising in China and brewers are widening product variety and boosting output to gain market share in ...More Info

Danish brewer Royal Unibrew said on April, 27 it continued the positive trend in Q1 2010 realising higher earnings than in 2009.

The company’s operating profit (EBIT before special items) amounted to DKK10 million compared to a loss of DKK28 million for the same period of last year, an increase of DKK38 million, which is more favourable than expected.

As expected, developments in Q1 were positively affected by Easter sales, unlike last year, being realised in Q1; moreover, distributors have been accumulating inventories due to, among other things, the labour market situation in Denmark.

”Consumers continue to show restraint, and the markets are volatile and characterised by keen competition. In light of this, we are satisfied to have been able in Q1 to continue the positive trend with an increase in both results and cash flow – and an additional reduction of our debts. The improved financial performance is not least due to the significant measures taken in 2009 to optimise Royal Unibrew now really gathering momentum. In Q1 we launched several new, interesting products; we will continue to do so throughout 2010, and we will also continue optimising our business in general. With the final divestment of the Caribbean breweries in February ...More Info

A slowdown in beer sales at Foster's is expected to prompt a major reinvestment program that could dampen earnings growth, The Australian communicated on April, 30.

According to market research firm AC Nielsen, Foster's share of the Australian beer market was 49.9 per cent in the first three months of 2010, down from 55 per cent in 2005 and the first time it has slipped below 50 per cent.

The decline at Foster's coincided with a general slackening in liquor market growth, with annual sales up just 1 per cent overall for the first quarter of the calendar year, compared to 6 per cent growth for the same period in 2009, when UBS analyst Lindy Newton said the fiscal stimulus, a hot summer, new products and the need to drown recession-induced sorrows had boosted sales.

About two percentage points of the market share loss could be attributed to Lion Nathan's 2008 acquisition of Tasmanian brewer Boags, which was formerly distributed by Foster's.

While Foster's VB brand was still the country's biggest seller, accounting for 15.1 per cent of sales by volume and 14.7 per cent by value, it was in decline with volumes down by 8.4 per cent in the first quarter compared to ...More Info

Stanislava Gorjanović

J. Inst. Brew. 115(4), 334–360, 2009
ABSTRACT
The mature barley seed proteome is dominated by proteins involved in stress responses, including the Pathogenesis-Related proteins (PRs). PRs are currently classified into 17 families. The biochemistry of the PRs families, whose members are constitutively present in barley seed, is surveyed in this paper. These proteins are assumed to protect dormant and germinating seeds against pathogenic microorganisms and pests. The current knowledge on PRs structural and functional properties is summarized in an attempt to illustrate their importance in barley seed innate resistance. At the same time, a platform to understand PRs technological function in cereal foods and in beverage processing and quality is provided. Key words: Antimicrobial activity, barley seed, biological function, innate resistance, pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), stress response, technological function. Load full article, 27 pages, 959 kb , PDF file