Top Industry News 

More news is available on site www.e-malt.com  

• The Norwegian beer-to-media company, Orkla ASA, announced on November 7 a 14% rise in the third qarter earnings thanks to strong drink sales ...more info



• Carlsberg A/S, Denmark’s largest brewery, posted a 20% increase in its net profit in the third quarter, coming in at DKK586m (US$89.9m) against DKK489m year-on-year ...more info



• The Australian beer and wine group Lion Nathan, based in Antipodean, has registered an 11.2% increase in its full year (to September 30) net profits to A$180.1 million ...more info



• THE BREWING company Heineken Slovakia halted beer production in its Martin brewery due to declining beer sales, according to the news wire SITA and Slovak Spectator ...more info



• The Philippines' largest food and beverage conglomerate, San Miguel Corp., said on November 7 consolidated net profit rose 15% in the three months ended Sept. 30 ...more info



• UK brewer, Scottish & Newcastle, announced on November 7 third quarter results (July to September 2003) from its 50% owned joint venture Baltic Beverages Holding AB (BBH) ...more info



• New Zealand beer maker, DB Breweries Ltd., announced a 12.5 % increase in its September year net profit on November 4 and said it expected a similar sized increase in the current year ...more info



• The sale of HVB Group’s stake in German brewer Brau und Brunnen AG is not imminent, contrary to a weekend magazine report ...more info



• Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo will start trading on Spain's Latibex index of Latin American companies on November 13, the Latibex said on November 4 ...more info



• The Australian Stock Exchange reported on November 03 that Foster’s Group Ltd continues to buy back shares. According to the Stock Exchange, the group bought back 1,884,959 on 31 October ...more info



• UK brewing force, Scottish & Newcastle plc, has posted that on November 03 it completed the sale of S&N Retail to Spirit Amber Bidco Limited ...more info



• The Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) has contributed over 380bn/- to the government Treasury in the last ten years, besides increase in profitability and growing dividends to its shareholders ...more info



• A subsidiary of OAO Baltika Brewery (St. Petersburg) will be opened in Kiev, Ukraine by 2004, according to the Russian media ...more info



• Russian beer maker, OAO Yarpivo, plans a share split, it was reported recently. The brewery won approval for the split at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on October 27 ...more info




2. Brewery News

Russia had one of its coldest summers for decades – hitting business across the beer industry, while Western Europe enjoyed record temperatures. British-based brewing group Scottish and Newcastle Plc, which owns Russian market leader Baltic Beverages Holdings (BBH) jointly with Danish giant Carlsberg, scaled back expectations for the country as a whole. S&N now believes Russian beer market volumes will grow by around 5% this year rather than in “high single digits” as it earlier thought. "We now anticipate the Russian beer market to grow at five percent in 2003 and BBH Russian volumes to grow at around eight percent," an S&N spokesman said after the group issued a third-quarter trading update on BBH, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of S&N's annual earnings. Russia is the world's fifth-biggest beer market after China, the United States, Germany and Brazil, and one of the quickest to expand with annual growth of nearly 20 % over the last five years -- and many western-based brewers keen to invest. BBH, which brews one of Europe's top beers Baltika and gets 80 % of its profits from Russia, said its Russian beer volumes rose 12 % in the third quarter and outpaced the overall Russian beer market rise of six percent, pushing BBH's Russian market share to 33.1 %...more info

Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) said on November 5 it had opened a US$65-million (S$113 million) brewery in Vietnam as part of its strategy to develop new and existing markets, The Business Times reported. The plant, APB's second in Vietnam, is being run by Hatay Breweries Ltd, in which the regional brewing giant has a 96 % stake, a company spokeswoman said from Singapore. Heineken owns around 43 % of APB while Fraser and Neave holds about 38 %. Located in the northern province of Ha Tay, the brewery's commercial bottling operations were officially inaugurated on November 4 by Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo. The first Tiger and Heineken beers rolled off the production lines on October 27. The plant has an annual capacity of 30 million litres of beer. APB, which is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, built its first brewery in Vietnam in 1994 in the southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City. The company, a joint venture between brewers Heineken and Fraser and Neave, operates 14 breweries in Cambodia, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its flagship brew is Tiger, but it also produces Anchor, Heineken, Raffles, and an array of national and regional beer brands.

The US brewing force, Anheuser-Busch Cos. posted on November 05 earnings for 2003 and 2004 will be on target. In a press release, the brewer said it expects earnings growth for 2003 to be between 12% and 13%, while next year it will be 12%. Based on 2002 earnings of US$2.20 per share, the predicted earnings for 2003 equates to between US$2.46 and US$2.49. Following the announcement last month of the company’s Q3 results, Anheuser-Busch reaffirmed its guidance which was given earlier this year. Despite problems in the industry volume environment this year, due to unfavourable weather and other short-term factors, the brewer said in a press release that its market share, revenue per barrel and earnings performances have been “excellent. With more normal weather and improving economic conditions, industry volume growth should return to more normal levels." The company also said that it recently achieved a 50% market share in the US for the first time. August A. Busch, IV, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer Conference in New York on Wednesday via a webcast, said, "we have gained 1.2 share points year-to-date, reaching 50% market share for the first time in our company's history."...more info

Canada’s beer maker Sleeman Breweries Ltd. said on November 6 third-quarter profit rose 17 % as higher prices and increased volumes of its Sapporo brand resulted in record revenue. For the quarter ended Sept. 27, Guelph, Ont.-based Sleeman said profit rose to $4.4-million or 27 cents a share, from last year's $3.7-million or 23 cents. The most recent quarter includes one-time management change costs as well as the writeoff of deferred financing fees totalling $300,000. Quarterly revenue rose 11 per cent to a record $53-million from last year's $48-million. The gains were largely the result of increased prices and the addition of new Sapporo volumes, Sleeman said. During the quarter, Sleeman expanded its agreement with Japan's Sapporo Breweries Ltd. to include worldwide production of its 650 millilitre silver can. Sleeman said it expects to start producing the silver can in the spring of 2004, following expansion of its Guelph brewing facility. As a result of this agreement Sleeman expects to produce an additional 75,000 hectolitres of Sapporo annually. “Sleeman is well positioned to continue to grow earnings going forward consistent with our long term goal of growing earnings per share by 10 % to 15 % per year,” chairman and chief executive John Sleeman said.

Largest German Breweries. Total Production in 1,000 hl



Company	1989	1995	1996	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Holsten group	3,775	7,300	7,100	7,100	8,455	10,000	9,900	9,800
Radeberger (Binding) group	7,650	9,179	8,750	9,800	9,800	9,500	8,920	8,820
Interbrew (Becks)	3,843	5,500	5,624	5,431	5,437	5,743	5,740	7,230
Brau & Brunnen	5,350	10,281	9,950	7,981	7,548	7,094	7,190	7,169
Stute Nährungsmittel	-	-	-	5,680	5,600	5,500	5650	6,000
Haus Kramer	2,940	6,450	6,240	5,645	5,667	5,677	5637	5,697
Bitburger	2,721	4,700	4,800	4,955	5,133	5,060	5,030	5,102
Krombacher	1,770	4,130	4,290	4,610	4,830	4,790	4,693	4,865
Gilde	1,694	3,358	3,576	3,901	3,840	4,207	4,463	4,809
Bayerische Brau Holding	-	-	-	-	-	4,724	4,647	4,690
Spaten group	-	-	-	3,852	3,905	4,055	3,975	4,011
Karlsberger	2,309	3,773	3,483	3,475	3,479	3,500	3,600	4,000
Oettinger group	605	1,880	2,055	2,684	2,934	3,121	3,397	3,989
März group (Henninger, etc.)	4,850	4,776	4,613	3,999	3,925	4,317	4,320	-
Kulmbacher	1,818	n/a	2,345	1,917	1,896	1,921	1,950	-
Paulaner	2,285	2,277	2,333	2,686	2,743	2,748	2,750	-
Veltins	1,815	2,270	2,281	2,242	2,320	2,360	2,360	-
König	2,211	2,207	2,156	2,032	2,178	2,300	2,300	-



3. Malt News

October was a month of fairly large activities, analysts said. Venezuela purchased about 125,000 tons of EU malt. It also purchased 5-10,000 tons of Argentinian malt. The SAB breweries of El Salvador and Honduras took 20,000 tons, half each from Sweden and Chile. Sweden also sold to Costa Rica and the Caribbean. Vietnam is reported for 20,000 tons as well, half from France and Australia. Australia sold 40.000 tons to Korea, the reported price was US $ 305 FOB in bulk container. APB booked part of their annual Asian needs, so far mainly from Europe. Japan bought undisclosed quantities from their traditional origins of supply. There was also good activity inside Mercosur with sales of at least 20,000 tons from Argentina to Brazil and major activity inside Brazil.

4. Barley News

In the crop year 2002/03 the EU exported 1.7 million tonnes of malting barley to third countries. France shipped 1.135 million tonnes, of which 575,000 tonnes to China, 129,000 tonnes to the USA and 119,000 tonnes to Brazil. Denmark shipped 516,000 tonnes: 100,000 tonnes to Russia, 86,000 tonnes to Poland and 83,000 tonnes to Colombia. Estimates are that the U.K. and Sweden shipped 25,000 tonnes each.

Feed barley has been and still is the cheapest feed grain in the EU. But even barley prices went up by at least EUR 5,- within one week. At the end of the month French buyers paid, basis July, FOB Creil EUR 125,-, exw Chartres 130,-, FOB Moselle 132,-, FOB Strasbourg 136,-. German feed barley, November, FOB Baltic ports was 130,-, equal to 138,- CIF Jutland, the Danish feed consumption center. Malting barley markets reacted slowly, Danish Barke/Alliot, November, FOB seaport was quoted at EUR 143,-/145,-. French Prestige, basis July, FOB Creil, traded at EUR 133,-.

Dear E-malt Reader!

E-malt.com has Trading Online system. The system is to be used for malt/barley trading. One can register a malt/barley offer or a malt/barley request. The registering person could be as a seller/buyer or as an agent for seller/buyer. The User can see information about all active malt/barley offers & requests. If needed the system allows user to buy/sell malt/barley due to reasonable offers/requests. The way to do this is to confirm reasonable transaction. Trading Online rules are available through the Internet in the Trading Online as well as Tutorial (useful for persons who starts the system usage). To visit the E-malt Trading Online first go to the E-malt.com site, then click Trading Online link in the left menu of the e-malt.com home page. For more details please contact info@e-malt.com

Thank You!