Anheuser-Busch management reviewed the company’s strategies to accelerate U.S. beer sales and profitability, and reaffirmed the company’s 7 to 10 percent long-term earnings growth objective, in a presentation given at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference, the company said in a press release, February 21.

“Over the past year, we have broadened our portfolio to enhance our participation in faster-growing high-end categories and initiated a major transformation of our selling system to better position our company for long-term growth. Our top priority in 2008 is to accelerate core beer sales and profitability,” August A. Busch IV, president and chief executive officer of the company, said to the investors and analysts.

Mexico's top brewer Modelo, the maker of Corona beer, posted a 2.3 percent decline in fourth-quarter net profit as exports slumped and costs soared, Reuters reported February 21.

Modelo said its October-December net profit was 1.680 billion pesos ($153 million).

Costs for warehousing and raw materials rose almost 21 percent, wiping out an increase in revenue.

Modelo, half owned by U.S. beer company Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said net sales for the quarter rose 20 percent to 17.291 billion pesos.

Modelo sold 7.7 percent more beer in Mexico during the fourth quarter, which helped drive revenue.

Export volumes, mainly to the United States, declined 6 percent from a year earlier, hurt by higher prices and a difficult comparison as sales in the final quarter of 2006 were high.

Modelo's Mexican rival Femsa, which brews Sol, Tecate and Dos Equis brands said on Tuesday its export volumes rose 19.3 percent.

Both Modelo and Femsa had similar performances in the domestic market. Femsa's domestic sales volumes rose 6 percent.

InBev NV may say next week fourth-quarter profit rose on demand in Latin America and Eastern Europe, according to Bloomberg, February 22.

Net income climbed 37 percent to 510 million euros ($757 million) from 371 million euros a year earlier, according to the median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales gained 9.7 percent to 3.94 billion euros, the survey shows.

InBev gets about half its earnings from Latin America and is the second-largest brewer in Russia, markets where demand is swelling more quickly than in Western Europe and North America. The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer's Brazilian sales probably gained about 7 percent by volume in the quarter, according to Alexandra Oldroyd, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London.

``This should drive a good overall performance,'' Oldroyd said of the increase in a Feb. 11 research report. ``In central and eastern Europe, we expect 5 percent volume growth in the fourth quarter.''

Annual net income at InBev, the maker of Beck's lager and Bass ale, rose 27 percent to 1.79 billion euros, according to the average of 10 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales climbed 9 percent to 14.5 billion euros, the average of 23 estimates shows.

The brewer reduced operating costs by 1.1 percent ...More Info

In 25 years French beer consumption has decreased 25%, Le Figaro reported February 20. For beer, as well as for wine the quality is preffered over quantity.

While beer consumption decreased 3.5% between 2006 and 2007, from 20.26 mil hl to 19.56 mil hl, or to 30 litres per capita, special beers increased their popularity. Abbey beers and premium beers saw their sales grow 3.7% and 1.4% respectively. These two sectors represent 20% and 32% of total beer sales.

Traditional lager beers, the market heart, saw their sales drop 7%, non-alcoholic beers decreased 9%. According to Gerard Laloi, President of French Beer Union, the drop in beer sales could be partially explained by last summer bad weather which the Rugby World Cup couldn’t compensate. “We estimate that one degree in the air’s temperature can change the beer consumption by 4%. Between 15 June and 15 September 2007, beer consumption decreased 18%”, he added.

Some other brewers plan to increase the price of their beers in the next few months, according to media, February 21. The cause is higher prices for raw materials, especially for malt.

The brewers Pivovar Litovel, Zubr, Holba and Pivovar Jihlava announced about planed rises in beer prices. In addition, Staropramen brewery, the second biggest brewer in the country, is also going to increase its beer prices in a few months.

Last year, in October-November period, Plzensky Prazdroj, Budejovicky Budvar, Drinks Union and Krusovice increased their prices by 5-6%.

Key to its global expansion plan, China's leading beermaker Tsingtao aims to break out of the niche market in the U.S., according to Business Week, February 19.

Crown Imports, the largest beer importer in the U.S., sells more Tsingtao beer every year during Chinese New Year than any other period. This year, it's been pulling out all the stops. Chicago-based Crown (a subsidiary of Constellation Brands (STZ)) has persuaded Costco Wholesale (COST) to carry China's most famous beer in several stores in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest on a trial basis during celebrations of the Year of the Rat, which started on Feb. 7. If Tsingtao sells well, Costco may consider stocking the Chinese import beer year-round. Crown Imports has also signed up celebrity chef Martin Yan to kick off a marketing blitz in a bid to expand Tsingtao outside Chinatown and into downtown U.S.A.

Tsingtao is China's oldest and most famous beer, with a 13% market share at home. Based in the northeastern city of Qingdao (the company uses an older system of romanizing the name for its brand; hence the different spelling), the brewery entered the U.S. market in 1972, shortly after Nixon's visit to Beijing started thawing Cold ...More Info

Heineken NV, the biggest Dutch brewer, will borrow £3.85 billion to help finance a joint takeover of Scottish & Newcastle PLC, The Star reported February 22.

The Amsterdam-based brewer has commitments from nine banks for the loans, spokesperson Veronique Schyns said in an interview.

Banks led by Crédit Suisse Group and ING Groep NV will begin seeking more lenders for the financing next month, according to people involved in the deal.

Heineken teamed with Carlsberg A/S of Copenhagen to buy Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle for £7.8 billion on Jan. 25, after a three-month takeover battle.

S&N sells beverages under brands including Foster's, Kronenbourg and Strongbow.

Carlsberg is separately raising £2.77 billion of loans to fund its part of the brewing industry takeover.

Australian barley sales to China have stalled this year due to a shortage of containers to ship the grain, industry officials say, just as easing prices appeared set to reinvigorate the trade after last year's slump, Reuters reported February 22.

Exports fell last year as barley prices soared almost 60 percent in little more than a month after the Australian drought depleted feed grain supplies and climbing world wheat prices sent shockwaves through the grains complex.

Australian feed barley prices have fallen by 30 percent from last September's peak, but demand for containers has surged after the Australian government de-regulation wheat trade last year, allowing more shipments by bag and container.

"China is sitting there with big pent-up demand," says Ole Houe, manager of coarse grains for GrainCorp Ltd.

But the wheat trade has monopolised the use of empty containers, shipping up to one million tonnes of wheat a year as suppliers seek alternatives to bulk freight costs, he said.

Australia has the potential to export 3 million tonnes of wheat a year in containers and bags, the regulatory panel the Wheat Export Authority said last year. This compares with bulk wheat exports of around 16 million tonnes in a good year.

The Baltic Exchange's ...More Info

Barley production in 2007-08 is estimated to have been 5.9 million tonnes, 42 per cent above the previous year but 26 per cent below the five year average, according to ABARE, February 19.

Barley production in New South Wales is estimated be 650 000 tonnes in 2007-08, a 16 per cent decline from the harvest in 2006-07. The area sown with barley in New South Wales increased by 13 per cent in 2007-08. However, drought conditions reduced barley yields to well below the five year average.

Victorian barley production is estimated at 1.1 million tonnes, an 85 per cent increase from the drought reduced production in 2006-07. Barley yields increased to 1.2 tonnes per hectare in 2007-08, compared with 0.66 tonnes per hectare in 2006-07. While yields increased on average by around 80 per cent in 2007-08, it was still well below the five year average of 1.86 tonnes per hectare.

Production of barley in Queensland is estimated to have almost tripled to around 160 000 tonnes in 2007-08. The increased production reflects a 44 per cent increase in the area sown to barley and an increase in barley yields from the drought reduced yields in 2006-07.

Total barley production in Western Australia is ...More Info

While the vendors of malting barley are always present on the market, the malsters were not very active this week both for old crop and future crop, La Depeche published February 21.

Malsters are rather reassured by the good state of winter crop. The winter barley seems not to had been suffered from the last frosts.

Feed barley market was totally lethargic this week both for intern market and for exports.

Chris D. Powell(1), David E. Quain(2) and Katherine A. Smart(1)
(1)School of Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
(2)Coors Brewers, Technical Centre, PO Box 12, Cross Street, Burton-on-Trent DE14 1XH, UK


Abstract
Ageing in budding yeast is not determined by chronological lifespan, but by the number of times an individual cell is capable of dividing, termed its replicative capacity. As cells age they are subject to characteristic cell surface changes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae reproduces asexually by budding and as a consequence of this process both mother and daughter cell retain chitinous scar tissue at the point of cytokinesis. Daughter cells exhibit a frail structure known as the birth scar, while mother cells display a more persistent bud scar. The number of bud scars present on the cell surface is directly related to the number of times a cell has divided and thus constitutes a biomarker for replicative cell age. It has been proposed that the birth scar may be subject to stretching caused by expansion of the daughter cell; however, no previous analysis of the effect of cell age on birth or bud scar size has been reported. This paper provides evidence that scar tissue expands with the cell during growth. It is postulated that symmetrically arranged breaks in the bud scar allow these rigid chitinous structures to expand without compromising cellular integrity.
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