Singapore: Singapore's third-biggest conglomerate, Fraser & Neave Ltd (F&N), which holds 37.9% of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd., posted on Friday, November 12 a 37 % drop in fourth-quarter net profit as earnings fell at its brewing unit. F&N, a 120-year old group worth over US$2.0 billion, said profit for the full year ended September 30 fell 12.3 percent but it stepped up the final dividend and said earnings would be maintained next year, according to Reuters.

Net profit at F&N, whose businesses include food and beverages, publishing and printing and properties, fell to S$103.4 million ($62.55 million) for the quarter ended September from S$163.6 milion in the same period last year. Revenues declined about 2 percent to about S$940 million for the quarter.

F&N's 37.9 percent-owned unit, Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. (APB) , maker of Singapore's top-selling "Tiger" brand beer, posted a 17 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit to S$20.7 million from S$24.9 million in the year-earlier period.

APB, which operates 14 plants in eight countries and is 42.5 percent owned by Dutch brewer Heineken NV , saw flat revenue growth of about S$320 million for the quarter.

In September, the firm was sued by German, Swedish and Japanese banks for over US$68 million in loans after the brewer's former finance manager was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 42 years in prison. APB had rejected the claims of the four foreign banks and said it would contest them. F&N said it would pay a final dividend of 35 Singapore cents per share for the period, up from 30 cents last year. ($1=1.653 Singapore Dollar)

12 November, 2004