SABMiller plc, the world’s second-largest brewer, reported on May, 14 its preliminary (unaudited) results for the twelve months to 31 March 2009.

SABMiller’s group revenue increased by 6% from the year ended March 2008 to $25.3 bln. Group revenue includes the attributable share of associates’ and joint ventures’ revenue of US$6,599 million (i.e. including MillerCoors’ revenue) (2008: US$2,418 million). Revenue excluding associates and joint ventures dropped 13% to $18.7 bln. Revenue excludes the attributable share of associates’ and joint ventures’ revenue. Accordingly 2009 is not comparable with 2008 as MillerCoors’ revenue is not included in 2009 although Miller Brewing Company revenue is included in 2008.

The company said its profit before tax amounted to $2.95 bln ($3.26 bln in the year to March 2008).

Basic earnings per share dropped 7% to 125.2 US cents, and dividends per share constituted 58 US cents (unchanged).

Meyer Kahn, Chairman of SABMiller, said:

"The group delivered robust results in the face of multiple challenges including higher commodity costs, an appreciating US dollar and weakening consumer spend. Our performance in this difficult environment was driven by continued adherence to our strategic priorities and the power of our leading local brands which have been patiently built over many years. Our medium ...More Info

Efes Breweries International N.V. (EBI) announced on May, 14 its consolidated unaudited financial results for the three months period ended 31 March 2009 in accordance with IFRS.

In 1Q 2009, EBI’s consolidated sales volume reached 2.5 mln hl, recording a decline of 4.2% over the previous year. On an organic basis*, sales volume declined by 2.8% year‐on‐year. Sales volume decline was due to the continued effect of the economic slowdown in the region combined with the strong base of 1Q 2008, when total and organic sales volume was up by 12.0% and 9.5%, respectively, Efes said.

The downward trend in the Russian beer market continued in the first quarter of 2009 as expected, due to the deteriorating consumer demand as a result of the global financial crisis. In this challenging environment, EBI once again managed to outperform the beer market by realizing 2.0 mln hl sales volume.

The decline in EBI’s sales volume in Russia stood at 5.3% vs. the estimated market decline of 7%. EBI’s market share in Russia was 9.3% in 1Q 2009, slightly over the 9.2% market share it has attained in 1Q 2008. (AC Nielsen).

In Kazakhstan, sales volume grew by 32.3% in 1Q 2009 vs 1Q 2008 and reached ...More Info

Carlsberg A/S, the largest brewer in the Nordic countries and Russia, will surpass previous savings forecasts after last year’s joint takeover of Scottish & Newcastle Plc, Chief Executive Officer Jorgen Rasmussen was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on May, 14.

The maker of the Carlsberg, Kronenbourg and Baltika brands will exceed the 1.3 billion Danish kroner ($240 million) savings target planned for the first three years after the deal, the CEO said in an interview, after falling demand prompted the company to seek wider scope for cuts than originally planned in markets from Russia to France. He declined to give a specific figure.

Rasmussen said the Danish brewer is learning from the “brutal cost-cutting machine” of its largest rival, the Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, which completed the biggest beer merger last year, months after Carlsberg’s own 4.3 billion-pound ($6.5 billion) takeover of S&N assets. Following those deals, the global economy soured and concerns about debt drove Carlsberg’s shares down by two-thirds in 2008.

“We’re taking out a lot more costs than we initially factored in,” Rasmussen said. AB InBev “are brutal at it, and maybe before we were the nice guys. In tougher times, you have to put efficiency top of the ...More Info

Femsa, Latin America's largest brewer and bottler, plans to cut $250 million in costs this year to better handle the economic slowdown, which is expected to hurt its second-quarter sales, Reuters reported on May, 13.

Chief Executive Jose Antonio Fernandez said this week the Mexican company, maker of the popular Tecate, Sol and Dos Equis beers, will put on hold investments in 2009 and focus on slashing nonessential spending during the hard times.

Mexico's economy, which is expected to contract around 5 percent this year, has been slammed by plunging U.S. demand for its exports. Consumers have cut spending as exporters axed hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Femsa's beer sales volume slipped 3 percent in Mexico in the first quarter, compared with the January-March period last year.

Asked about sales performance in the current quarter, Fernandez said: "We are going to have a small dip, but we're trying to compensate for that with other products."

April's Easter Week and a heat wave will help offset weak sales at some markets after a flu outbreak prompted the shutdown of restaurants and bars and scared away tourists at Mexico's main beach destinations.

According to Fernandez, Femsa maintains its goal to open 750 to 800 new Oxxo convenience stores ...More Info

Last year European governments imposed smoking bans on restaurants, pubs and bars, which led to a large number of closures, especially in the UK. Beer consumption was affected less than feared, because home consumption, i.e. sales of supermarkets increased strongly, industry observers communicated earlier this month.

According to industry data, consumers favoured cheaper beers, brewers of less known and less advertised beers gained much better market shares.

In Germany it is reported that Oettinger, a relative newcomer, is the market leader with 6.6 mln hl in front of the largest traditional beer, Krombacher with 5.4 mln hl and InBev’s well known Beck’s beer with only 3.0 mln hl.

Germany’s monthly beer sales are estimated as follows: January – minus 18.3%, February – minus 4.4%, March – plus 3.5%.

Domestic malt call-offs in April point to another good month, analysts report.

There is one special feature in German beer statistics: alcohol-free and so-called malt beer, are not included in beer statistics. The two products represent 3.26 mln hl and require almost 50,000 tons of malt. German per capita beer consumption is still 111 litres/annum, including these special beers.

Foster's Group Limited announced on May, 15 it has completed the purchase Fijian Holdings Limited's 29.0% shareholding in Foster's Group Pacific Limited.

The company said earlier this month it agreed to purchase Fijian Holdings Limited's (FHL) 29.0% shareholding in Foster's Group Pacific Limited (FGPL) for F$13.26 per share.

The transaction values FHL's shareholding at F$40 million and increases Foster's ownership interest in FGPL to 89.6%.

FGPL owns and operates breweries and distilleries in Fiji and Samoa, producing and distributing various brands including Fiji Bitter, Fiji Gold and Vailima. Foster's purchased its initial stake in December 1957 and currently holds 60.6% of the shares in FGPL.

SABMiller plc announced on May, 14 that it has agreed to acquire the outstanding 28.1% minority interest in its Polish subsidiary, Kompania Piwowarska S.A., from Kulczyk Holding S.A. ('Kulczyk Holding') in exchange for 60 million new SABMiller shares.

Following completion of the transaction, SABMiller will own 100% of Kompania Piwowarska. Based upon SABMiller's closing share price of £12.20 on 13 May 2009, the implied value of the consideration is US$1,110 million (Based on an exchange rate of £1=US$1.517. Source: Bloomberg, 13 May 2009).

Following completion of the transaction, Kulczyk Holding will hold approximately 3.8% of the issued share capital of SABMiller. Kulczyk Holding has agreed to restrictions on the disposal of its shares for a three year period, with a limited number of shares eligible for disposal in each year. Any disposals will be subject to orderly market arrangements. The transaction is subject to admission to listing of the SABMiller shares.

SABMiller said it believes that owning 100% of its largest and most profitable business unit in Europe will be of significant strategic benefit in the medium term. In the current financial year, the transaction is expected to have no material impact on earnings per share on a pro forma ...More Info

Following the release of SABMiller plc's preliminary results for the period to end March 2009, the South African Breweries Limited (SAB) has announced on May, 14 a solid performance with a volume trend in line with expectations.

In an economic environment marked by consumer spending hampered by high interest rates and high fuel prices, SAB's revenue grew by 11% on a constant currency basis. EBITA declined by 8% on a constant currency basis to US$764 mln due to increased commodity and energy costs and higher inflation, which in turn increased production costs per hectolitre in ZAR by 23%. EBITA was also adversely impacted by the reversal of foreign currency gains booked in the prior financial year on procurement. The EBITA margin declined to 19.3%, although this was an improvement on the half-year margin. Lager volumes were down 2% (25.95 mln hl), largely affected by the absence of Easter trading in the reporting period, a decline in both premium and flavoured alcoholic beverage volumes and regional regulatory impacts. The mainstream category, which accounts for the vast majority of total lager sales, remained in growth supported by strong performances by both Hansa Pilsener and Castle Lager.

Two premium lager brands, Grolsch ...More Info

The area seeded to barley by producers in Western Canada may actually be higher than anticipated despite cash bids for the commodity remaining depressed, Resource News International reported on May, 13.

"While it's hard to conceive that barley area will increase given the poor cash bids for the commodity and the likelihood those values will remain depressed heading into the 2009-10 crop year, current weather conditions could still cause seeded area to be even larger," said Mike Jubinville, an analyst with ProFarmer Canada in Winnipeg.

Barley, he noted, is a short-season crop and given that producers have not been very successful in seeding due to wet conditions in eastern Saskatchewan and most of Manitoba, the crop may still get some serious consideration.

Statistics Canada in its April 24 planting survey estimated seeded area to barley in Canada this spring at 9.476 million acres, up from the 2008 level of 9.357 million.

Most industry participants are of the belief that barley area needs to be lower, especially with prices reflecting the large supply situation, said Chris Beckman, an analyst with the market analysis division of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Winnipeg.

"Producers normally use prices as a guideline for determining what to plant in the spring, ...More Info

Kathleen Hofman, Kim Bulling, Susan Marshall1 and Terry Chadderton

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 114(3), 257–261, 2008 Concerns about the potential allergenicity of collagen proteins remaining after beverage fining have necessitated development of methods to detect collagen in beer at very low concentrations. We have developed a semi-quantitative SDS-PAGE/densitometer method suitable for use in brewer’s laboratories, for detection of residual native collagen at levels as low as 0.03 ppm (depending on the beer). The method is based on the fibril-forming properties of collagen molecules at elevated ionic strength. It will not detect denatured collagens so cannot be used on pasteurised beers. For a quantitative reference that compensates for significant differences in beer composition, and the different fining agents, a known amount of the acid-soluble fraction of the fining agent is added to the test beer to set limits of detection for the test. Densitometer results from the SDS-PAGE gels can vary with sample volume, depending on background interference but this can be reduced by careful selection of gel loading volumes. Fining out of the added collagen occurs in some beers, so less collagen is detected in the reference samples than expected. However, as long as densitometer readings for the sample are below those of the spiked reference, then collagen levels can be declared with confidence as being less than those of the reference. Key words: Beer, collagen, fining... Load full article, 5 pages, 6520 Kb, PDF file