In the traditionally small first quarter, Danish brewer Carlsberg reported an operating profit of DKK735 mln (DKK 788 mln in 2009). Group operating profit margin was unchanged at 6.7% (6.7% in 2009).

The strong margin improvement in Northern & Western Europe and Asia was off-set by the expected margin weakness in Eastern Europe following the significant Russian excise tax increase and the subsequent stock-building in Russia in late 2009, the company said.

Net revenue declined by 7% to DKK11.0 bln (DKK11.8 bln in Q1 2009) with a -7% organic net revenue development. Price/mix was +1% despite the negative effect from phasing of price increases in Russia following the excise tax increase.

Net profit was DKK471 mln. Net profit includes a non-cash, non-taxable income in special items of DKK390 mln related to a new acquisitions accounting regulation. Excluding this item, net profit was DKK81 mln versus DKK -212 mln in Q1 2009 or DKK +293 mln.

Carlsberg’s free cash flow was DKK -549 mln (DKK -1,079 mln in Q1 2009) and net interest bearing debt was DKK 37.1 bln (DKK 45.8 bln end Q1 2009).

The company’s Q1 beer volumes, including acquisitions, declined by 7% to 21.0 mln hl with an organic beer volume decline of ...More Info

Australian brewer Lion Nathan announced on May, 7 its trading update for the quarter ended 31 December 2009.

The company’s Australia and New Zealand business delivered revenue of A$687.4 mln, an increase of 6.6% on the prior corresponding period.

Premiumization across the market combined with successful innovation to drive strong revenue growth of 8.0%. Volume grew 2.9% reflecting the resilience of the Australian beer market in all economic circumstances.

The New Zealand market continued to be challenging as a consequence of difficult economic conditions. In the year to December 2009, the total NZ beer market declined by 5% in volume terms, according to Statistics New Zealand data. Lion Nathan New Zealand continued to outperform the market with total volume broadly stable (up 0.4%) and revenue growth of 2.3% in the December quarter.

Lion Nathan is owned by Kirin Holdings, one of Japan’s leading beer makers.

Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes posted a net profit of 71.5 million lira ($46.7 million) in the first quarter, exceeding poll forecasts and rebounding from last year's loss amid an economic recovery.

The company suffered a loss of 25.2 million lira a year earlier but was seen boosted by stronger emerging currencies and lower barley prices.

The brewer said in a filing with the stock exchange that sales dipped 1.3 percent to 753.7 million lira in the first quarter from 763.8 million the previous year.

Sales, which exceeded a poll forecast of 735 million lira, had been expected to fall as consumption in its main markets Turkey and Russia were hit by new beer taxes and the effect of a Turkish smoking ban imposed last summer.

Anadolu Efes controls Efes Breweries International, which has operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova and Serbia - areas whose once rapid market growth was hit hard by the global economic slowdown.

Malaysian brewer Guinness Anchor Bhd's (GAB) said its net profit for the third quarter ended March 31 improved 43% to RM46.46 mln from RM32.60 mln partly due to the later timing of the Chinese New Year celebration, a traditional driver of sales for the malt liquor market.

Revenue for the period rose 18% to RM370.82 mln from RM314.83 mln previously while basic earnings per share increased to 15.38 sen from 10.79 sen.

Managing director Charles Ireland said GAB's third-quarter performance had further extended its position as Malaysia's malt liquor market leader.

He added that as at end of financial year 2009 (ended June 30), GAB recorded eight successive years of volume, revenue and profit growth.

“We are pleased with our overall performance,” he said.

In a note to Bursa Malaysia, the company said it believed the malt liquor market was firming up and would continue to show upside momentum.

“Overall, competition is expected to remain intense,” it said, adding that smuggling remained a major concern and continued to have a negative impact on both the industry and Government revenue.

An analyst with a local bank-backed brokerage said GAB's Q310 earnings were within expectations due to the timing of the CNY. He also said he was upbeat about ...More Info

India’s brewers are expanding their offerings in the premium segment to improve shrinking margins that have been hit due to stiff competition, increased input costs and government’s reluctance to bring prices in line with it, DNA communicated on May, 12.

Continuous margin erosion due to adverse market condition has already seen market leaders — United Breweries Ltd (UBL) and SABMiller India Ltd — extend their footprint in this segment with the launch of high-end products in the last few months.

The two companies, which together have over 80% of the Indian beer market with 53% and 34% shares, respectively, are planning to launch more premium brands this year in a bid to curb any further slip in the margins.

The Vijay Mallya-owned beer company, UBL, has seen its Ebidta margin drop to 11.4% in the fourth quarter-ended March 31 from 18.6% during the same period last year.

Kalyan Ganguly, managing director of UBL, said there were several reasons that have led to the fall in the beer company’s margins despite a revenue growth of 24%.

He said his company was working on premiumisation of its products that would help in safeguarding its margins.

“We have successfully introduced Kingfisher Ultra in the ...More Info

In Russia and the Ukraine malt stocks remain huge, and there is little hope of reducing stocks soon and return to a normal malt market, experts report.

China’s supplies of malting barley become very small and have to be replaced by larger imports. Maltsters in the west of the country cannot afford for the cost of logistics of imported barley, they will slow down or stop production for prolonged periods, it is forecast.

As a result, industry analysts state, smaller factories will disappear, and the Chinese overcapacity might decrease.

The EU may reach the one million ton mark of export licence bookings by end June, but mostly because of a record large program of malting barley exports, industry analysts communicated in a recent research note.

Feed barley continued to sell to intervention, and the EU will finish this season with intervention stocks well above five million tons. The end of May is the end of EU barley intervention. One must make another reserve: President Sarkozy, followed by some other governments, will make a strong effort to re-establish a larger degree of protection for the EU (French) farmers, analysts believe.

By present rules EU barley must be sold in open markets in the new grain year, in the sector of exports it must compete with Black Sea barley.

New crop barley is quoted US$ 135,- FOB. Feed barley markets are called bearish, provided good crops in East and West Europe. It would require domestic EU prices of EUR 80,- to 90,- FOB interior to be competitive against the Black Sea.

Several consequences are possible, experts said. In 2011 the barley acreage of the EU would shrink again. Malting barley premiums (at today’s level) would look very good and could come under ...More Info

NYSE Liffe’s its Malting Barley Futures and Options have attracted good levels of participation from the market since launching on 10 May, trading a total of over 84 lots in futures and ten lots in options, Hedgeweek reported on May, 12.

Trading occurred in five delivery months, from the first position of November 2010 out as far as the November 2011 futures contract, as well as in the May 2011 options expiry month. “We are very pleased with the markets response to the first day of trading,” says Ian Dudden, director of commodity derivatives at NYSE Liffe. “The level of activity and range of participants demonstrates the relevance of the contract and underlines the benefits of the work we’ve undertaken with our customers to ensure the contract is designed to meet their needs.” The contracts meet the specific hedging requirements of maltsters, brewers and distillers as well as those engaged in the production and trade of malting barley.

The European Union bloc of 27 member states produced an estimated 14.3 million tons for the 2009-10 crop year ending June 30, 2010, and is forecast to produce 11 million tons in the upcoming crop year ending June 20, 2011, according to ...More Info

T. Silvetti, M. Brasca, R. Lodi, L. Vanoni, F. Chiolerio, M. de Groot and A. Bravi

J. Inst. Brew. 116(1), 33–40, 2010
ABSTRACT
Lysozyme is an antimicrobial enzyme that could be applied to counteract those bacterial species which, due to their own metabolic activity, possess notable beer spoilage ability and lead to loss of beer quality. Experiments were carried out to assess lysozyme potential to prevent the growth of beer spoilage bacteria, and to verify the effect of lysozyme on the microbiological stability and sensory characteristics of unpasteurized beer. Eight replicates, all from the same lot of Italian beer, were treated with 0 and 100 ppm lysozyme. Microbiological analyses were conducted bimonthly to investigate the presence of spoilage bacteria. Sensory analyses were performed to determine whether there were any significant differences in sensory impressions between beers produced with and without lysozyme. Lysozyme exerted a strong inhibitory action on the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) present in the beer and was very stable throughout the shelf life. Sensory tests revealed no unfavourable influence on beer flavour when using lysozyme. Indeed, the shelf life of beer with added lysozyme proved to be extended. Even as late as 1 month after the expiry date it still met with the panellists’ approval. Lysozyme may be regarded as an effective agent for preventing microbiological contamination and prolonging the stability of unpasteurized beer. Key words: lactic acid bacteria (LAB), lysozyme, shelf life, unpasteurized beer. Load full article, 8 pages, 258 kb , PDF file