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• Brazil: Nova Schin, Schincariol’s main challenger to AmBev’s dominance of the domestic market, held a 13.4% stake in December, the same as it held in November ...more info



• Turkey: The Turkish beer and malt producer, Anadolu Efes, had a successful year in 2003. The company registered 29% increase of beer sales in 2003 versus 2002 up to 1.175 billion litres ...more info



• Scottish & Newcastle has extended the tender offer for its £50m nine-and-three-quarter per cent Bonds Due 2006. The extension is until 1100 GMT on 12 March 2004 ...more info



• Brazil’s biggest brewer, AmBev, has seen its stock recommendation cut by Investment house Merrill Lynch, which reduced its recommendation on the Brazilian beverages company to “neutral” ...more info



• UK’s largest brewery, Scottish & Newcastle, has seen its price target raised. Credit Suisse First Boston upped its target from 360 pence a share to 380p on January 19 ...more info



• Africa, Kenya, Nairobi: A Nairobi court ruled on January 19 that a beer distribution agreement signed between Kenya Breweries Ltd and a company ...more info



• India, Tamil Nadu, Bangalore: the UB group, comprising United Breweries Ltd and Millennium AlcoBev Ltd (MABL), has forged ahead as the new leader in the Tamil Nadu beer market ...more info



• The Beer Machine® is the only completely closed single-step, odourless brewing system designed for making fresh, naturally carbonated beer ready to enjoy in just 7 to 10 days ...more info



• German brewer Brau und Brunnen is gearing up for a buying spree, its chief executive has told a newspaper. "In the next six to eight weeks there will be two to three takeovers ...more info



• Bulgaria: There were sold about 4.3 million hectoliters of beer in 2003 in Bulgaria. A very successful year and a 8 % increase in brewery production for 2003 ...more info

Brewery News

Danish brewing force, Carlsberg Breweries A/S has entered into conditional agreements to acquire 51% of the share capital in Holsten-Brauerei AG at € 38 per share from the Eisenbeiss family and other parties, the company announced on January 20. Carlsberg Breweries will make a voluntary public offer at the same price to buy all outstanding shares. “Carlsberg Breweries, is offering to acquire Holsten-Brauerei AG for a total enterprise value of € 1,065 million,” the company said. At the same time, an agreement has been made to sell the breweries of König-Brauerei in Duisburg and Licher Privatbrauerei in Lich to the Bitburger Group at a price of € 469 million on an enterprise value basis. Furthermore, Carlsberg Breweries has been granted an option which provides Holsten with the right to sell its 65% shareholding in mineral water companies at an implied enterprise value of € 159 million. This means Holsten will be in a position to on-sell assets at a total enterprise value of € 628 million. Following the divestments, Carlsberg Breweries will be the leading brewer in the north of Germany and the 5th largest brewery group in Germany. Carlsberg Breweries will keep the Holsten brewery in Hamburg and four other Holsten breweries with a total production capacity of 7.9 million hl beer, the internationally renowned beer brand Holsten and regional beer brands such as Lübzer, Feldschlösschen, Astra, Landskron and the speciality brand Duckstein. Germany is the largest beer market in Europe. With the acquisition of Holsten-Brauerei, Carlsberg Breweries becomes the leading brewery and market leader in northern Germany with a market share of 35% in Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg, 25% in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 12% in Lower Saxony/Bremen and 12% in Saxony. These market positions will become the natural extension of Carlsberg Breweries’ leading position in the Nordic region...more info

Dutch brewing giant, Heineken N.V. announced on January 19 that it had successfully closed the public offer to purchase the remaining 29.51% of the outstanding shares of Brau-Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft (“BBAG”) and 31.22% of the outstanding shares of Brau Union Aktiengesellschaft (“BUAG”). The Heineken group now owns 98.73% of the shares of BBAG and 98.70% of the shares of BUAG. The investment involved in the purchase of these remaining outstanding shares is €711 million and is funded from existing cash resources and the €1.2 billion syndicated revolving credit facility that was obtained in December 2003. Heineken launched the public offers following its acquisition of Getränke-Beteiligungs-AG (“GeBAG”) in which Heineken currently holds 85.58%. The integration of the operations of Heineken and BBAG in Central and Eastern Europe into the new Brau Union AG, which started in October 2003, is progressing according to plan. The new Brau Union AG will create an excellent platform for further growth. With a total volume of 26 million hectolitres, Heineken will be the regional market leader with a market share of 27%. Heineken will also be the market leader in most domestic Central European markets, creating opportunities for economies of scale and further profit growth. Many of the countries in which the combined entity will operate are in the process of joining the European Union. This is expected to strengthen the economies of those countries, accelerate the increase in consumers’ purchasing power, stimulate growth in beer consumption and favour development of the premium branded beer segment. Together, these factors are expected to generate excellent opportunities for growth in those markets. Heineken expects to realise significant synergy gains in addition to the restructuring programme already initiated by BBAG. BBAG’s strong market position in a number of countries in which Heineken does not have a significant presence will also support faster volume growth of the international Heineken premium brand.

US brewing giant, Anheuser-Busch, has been granted the rights to the "Bud" name for beer in Tajikistan by that country's Patent and Trademark Office. The same office has cancelled Czech brewer, Budejovicky Budvar's, trademark registration for the "Bud" name. This decision is another victory for Anheuser-Busch in Tajikistan. In September, Anheuser-Busch successfully defeated Budvar's effort to assert rights to the name "Bud" as an appellation of origin in Tajikistan. "We are pleased with the Tajikistan Patent and Trademark Office's ruling," said Stephen J. Burrows, president and chief executive officer, Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. "With this decision, Anheuser-Busch now has the rights to the 'Bud' name in virtually every country in the former Soviet Union. We will continue to fight any infringements on our trademarks throughout the world." Anheuser-Busch has undisputed rights to the Bud and Budweiser brand names in most of the world and sells its beer in more than 80 countries. After stopping Budvar from using Budweiser in Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Nigeria, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden, Anheuser-Busch has demonstrated once again its readiness to fight any infringement of Budweiser and Bud, the trademarks that Anheuser-Busch has made into world-famous icons.

Canada: Molson Inc. has slashed its profit forecast for the financial year ending March 31, citing "slower growth in revenue and earnings in certain regions of Canada and a 23 % volume shortfall in Brazil," according to Canadian press. The brewer now expects earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, for the year to grow zero to 2 % over the previous year, to between $512 million and $520 million, the company reported on January 15. Molson had previously targeted a 14.5 % rise in that measure of profit. For the third quarter ended Dec. 31, Molson expects to report a decline of 7 to 9 % in earnings before interest and taxes compared with a year earlier, to a range of $112 million to $115 million. The company said that measure of profit in Canada, where Molson is the largest brewer with 44.9 % of the market as of last summer, is expected to be up at least 10 per cent for the full year. Molson has encountered a quagmire in Brazil, however, where the company bought Kaiser, the South American country's second-largest brewer, for $765 million (U.S.) in the spring of 2002. The acquisition was worth about $991 million (Canadian) at yesterday's exchange rate. The volume of Brazilian sales in the October-December quarter was down 23 per cent from a year earlier, Molson said. "To deliver the 14.5 per cent EBIT growth commitment in fiscal 2004, Molson required Brazil to contribute to over-all EBIT in the second half of the year," said Daniel O'Neill, Molson's president and chief executive officer. "The time needed to revamp the sales force has taken much longer than expected, delaying Brazil's profit contribution by six months."...more info

Barley News

Australian Barley Production

	2002 / 2003	2003 / 2004
Area Planted, '000 ha	3,772	3,840
Yield, t/ha	0.98	2.02
Production, ’000/t	3,713	7,743

Estonia: In 2003 Estonian farmers harvested 528,200 tonnes of grains, which is by 3,500 tonnes more than the year before, Rosbalt agency informed with reference the Estonian department of statistics. In comparison with 2002 the farmers harvested more wheat and barley, but less rye. Thus, barley crop constituted 262,600 tonnes (249,400 tonnes in 2002). The grains were harvested from 255,200 hectares. Grain yield averaged 2.07 tonnes per hectare, with barley yield being 2.07 tonnes per hectare.


Theoretical malt prices.

* - 70/30 = 70% Average two Rows Spring and 30% Six Rows Winter
** - 50/50 = 50% Average two Rows Spring and 50% Six Rows Winter

Theoretical malt prices for crop 2004 are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Malting barley prices. French barley prices. Nominal prices.

EURO = USD 1.2354 January 20, 2004
Crop year		2003		2004
Parity		FOB Creil		FOB Creil
Position		July 2003		July 2004
Type	Variety	EURO	USD	EURO	USD
2RS	Scarlett	143.50	177.50	141.00	174.50
2RS	Prestige/Cellar	143.00	177.00	140.00	173.00
2RS	Aspen	142.00	175.50	139.00	172.00
2RS	Optic	142.00	175.50	139.00	172.00
2RS	Astoria	141.00	174.50	138.00	170.50
2RS	Cork	141.00	174.50	138.00	170.50
6RW	Esterel	138.50	171.50	125.00	154.50

nq - Not quoted

Prices for Danish and UK malting barley are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Graph of the week

Source: ABARE

Agenda

January 2004: INTERNATIONAL FOOD & DRINK EXHIBITION (IFDE 2004); The 2004 Barley Day; Pianeta Birra - Beverage & Co. International Show of Beers, Beverages...;
February 2004: Pianeta Birra - Beverage & Co. International Show of Beers, Beverages; Orges brassicoles 2004: Des perspectives nouvelles de marchés; HOFEX 2004 Food & Drink; Canadian Food & Beverage Show; BIEREXPO;
March 2004: International course - Malting and Brewing Science; FOODEX Japan 2004; ANTAD 2004; 2004 BIENNIAL CONVENTION; Beer Auction 2004, the international exhibition of beer, technology and equipment; China Drinktec 2004. China International Exhibition on Beverage and Brewing Processing Technology

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