Lion Nathan, Australia’s second-largest brewer, announced on May, 20 its full statutory interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2009.

The company recorded a net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$176 mln, an increase of 6.9% on the prior calendar period.

Australia

Underpinning the result was the excellent performance of Lion Nathan Australia, which grew operating EBIT by an impressive 12.7% to A$280.3 mln (reported EBIT grew 14.8%). Net sales revenue rose 11.3% in the period and total volumes increased by 4.6%.

The benefits of upweighted brand investment were seen in the strength of the core brands with Tooheys Extra Dry, XXXX Gold and Tooheys New all performing ahead of their respective market segments, Lion Nathan said. Premiumisation and wellbeing trends are still thriving in the market. Hahn Super Dry grew volumes by just under 50% in the half, outstripping the already high growth rate for the low-carb category. Craft beer sales increased through the James Squire trademark with volumes up 14% for the half.

The company said the Boag’s trademark continues to perform very well and is set to contribute strongly to an accelerated second half performance.

New Zealand

Lion Nathan’s New Zealand business performed well to achieve a 3.1% improvement in EBIT ...More Info

Thai Beverage Plc (Thai Bev), Thailand's leading brewer, said the sales revenue of its beer division decreased by 33.2% to Bt 7.9 bln in the first quarter of this year.

The company’s beer volume dropped 33.65 to 159 mln litres over the reporting period. Cost of goods sold increased to 83.2% of the brewer’s sales revenue.

Thai Bev’s EBITDA plummeted by a shocking 75.6% to Bt 392 mln as compared to Bt1.6 bln in Q1 2008 due to low sales and increased raw material and packaging costs. EBITDA margin grew 4.9% as compared to a 13.5% increase registered in the same period last year.

The brewer’s net profit fell by 121.1% to Bt161 mln from Bt762 mln a year ago. Beer profit margin also contracted 2 per cent, from positive 6.4 per cent in the same period last year.

Thai Bev said its brewing division contributed 5.3% less to the group’s total net profit in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the first quarter of 2008. Sales of beer account for 28.7% of the group’s total sales, it is reported.

According to the brewer’s official statement, sales of its flagship Chang beer continue to grow in the UK and move according to plan ...More Info

Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) announced on May, 18 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 33% stake in Asia Pacific Breweries - Pearl Private Limited (APB Pearl) from Jaipuria Beverages & Food Industries Private Limited and its nominees.

APB said the sale shares have a par value of INR 10 each and the aggregate consideration is INR 134,650,000 (approximately S$4.0 million) paid in cash.

APB Pearl is a joint venture partnership set up by APB and Jaipuria Beverages & Food Industries in Andhra Pradesh state to supply India’s biggest beer market with the Tiger and Anchor brands. Pursuant to the acquisition, APB Pearl will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Asia Pacific Breweries.

The consideration for the sale shares was arrived at on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis, APB said. The sale shares have a negative net asset value of approximately S$1.3 million based on the unaudited accounts of APB Pearl as at 31 March 2009.

APB Pearl will also redeem all the 7,510,000 redeemable preference shares having a par value of INR 10 each held by Jaipuria for an amount of INR 75,100,000 (approximately S$2.2 million) in cash.

Asia Pacific Breweries said the purchase of the sale shares will ...More Info

In the financial year 2009 ended on March 31, 2009, the domestic sales of SABMiller’s Kompania Piwowarska surpassed the level of 15 mln hectolitres and thus registered an increase by 3.9% in comparison to the sales results gained in the previous year, the parent company reported on May, 14.

Within that period, the sales of the whole brewing industry reached 34.9 mln hl (a decrease of 1.5%). The market share of Kompania Piwowarska increased by 2.2 percentage points, reaching 42.9% (from the level of 40.7% in the previous year).

Tyskie remained the bestselling brand among all Polish beers and registered an increase in market share to 17.3%. Also the sales of the Żubr brand grew to the level of 13%. Żubr is now the second leading brand in the Polish beer market in terms of sales. The Lech brand also increased its sales and market share.

The brewer’s revenues increased by 9.1% to 4.7 bln zloty, and its net profit grew by 2.4% to 757 mln zloty.

The revenues per 1 hectolitre grew by 6%, among others, due to three price increases introduced in the past year to counterbalance the cost pressure. The introduction of a significantly higher excise tax (13.6%), effective ...More Info

The first quarter of 2009 saw the volume of Mexico’s beer export fall to the lowest level in 6 years, El Semanario reported on May, 19.

Combined exports of Grupo Modelo and FEMSA decreased by 5% to about 3.866 mln hl as compared to the first quarter of 2008, sources inform.

The drop resulted from strong competition in the US beer market and global financial crisis. Besides, American consumers are switching from premium to mainstream beer.

Modelo and FEMSA have not foreseen such a drastic change in export volumes for the short term. Credit Suisse forecasts Modelo’s total export volume will drop 0.5% this year.

Shipments of South Korea’s alcoholic beverages, including beer, increased almost 23 percent last year, The Korea Herald reported on May, 19.

Data from the National Tax Service showed that Korea exported a total of 228 million litres of beer and other alcoholic drinks to 65 countries in 2008, a 22.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Japan was the No. 1 destination, knocking back 131 million litres, more than half of the total, followed by Hong Kong and Mongolia with 45 million litres and 14 million litres, respectively.

Korean beer enjoyed rising demand overseas, with a 23 percent increase in the shipments from the previous year.

More than 60 percent of beer shipments were to Hong Kong.

"Korean beer products are gaining popularity not only in Hong Kong but also in Mongolia and Iraq," an official of the agency said.

Local consumption on beer and soju has also surged in 2008.

Beer was the most popular liquor by volume with 2.05 billion litres consumed (+ 3.8%), followed by soju with 1 billion litres.

This means the average adult drank 110 500 ml bottles of beer last year, the tax agency said.

Officials pointed out that the consumption of beer increased due to ...More Info

Brick Brewing Co. Limited, Ontario's largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery, announced on May, 19 that it has received a Statement of Claim commenced by Labatt Brewing Company Limited in Canada's Federal Court claiming, among other things, infringement of Labatt's Brava beer trademarks, depreciation of the goodwill associated with the Brava marks and that beer consumers are confused between Brick's Red Baron beer and Labatt's Brava beer.

According to Brick Brewing, Labatt is seeking an interim, interlocutory and permanent injunction against Brick as well as damages or an accounting of profits from Brick's sales of Red Baron since adopting its new packaging. When Labatt bought Lakeport in 2007 they acquired the Brava brand.

Brick Brewing recently received funding from the Government of Ontario to market their brands and used a considerable amount to re-launch the Red Baron brand in bold new packaging with 4.8% alcohol by volume. Brick also invested in billboard and print advertising along with a new radio campaign. Labatt is claiming that the colour scheme and bottles are too similar to Brava and this could result in irreparable harm to the Brava brand. Red Baron currently represents less than 0.5% of all sales through The Beer Store (TBS).

George ...More Info

ABB Grain Ltd. (ABB) and Viterra Inc. (Viterra) announced on May, 19 they have signed an Implementation Agreement under which Viterra proposes to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares in ABB for a mixture of cash and scrip via a scheme of arrangement, which will be subject to shareholder and court approval.

The transaction, valued at approximately A$1.6 billion (C$1.4 billion (1)), is comprised of a combination of cash and shares, including a special dividend to be paid by ABB, it is reported.

• The value range is A$9.11 - A$9.41(1) per share (which includes a special cash dividend of A$0.41 per share to be paid by ABB); and

• The value range increases up to A$9.29 – A$9.59 (¹) per share for certain classes of shareholders who benefit from franking on the special cash dividend2.

The ABB Directors unanimously recommend that ABB shareholders vote in favour of the proposed scheme of arrangement, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert concluding that the proposal is in the best interests of ABB shareholders. The transaction has also been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Viterra.

Summary of the Proposed Terms

ABB shareholders will be ...More Info

The malt industry and distilleries have slowed down barley procurement from India’s largest markets, as the raw material is expected to be adequately available round the year, since multinational trading firms, including Cargill and Glencore, have chosen not to procure this season, the Business Standard reported on May, 19.

According to trading sources, companies like United Breweries, The Malt, Barmalt and Imperial Malt have reduced their buying as barley prices have crashed by Rs 100 a quintal in the last fortnight to Rs 800 a quintal.

Suresh Vashistha of Shrimadhopur-based trading firm Shiv Enterprises said, “Better crop-size coupled with improved yield, has flooded the market with barley. Exports are almost negligible as global market price is lower than the domestic market. Consequently, international trading firms have found no viability in barley procurement this year.”

India’s overall barley production is estimated close to 2 million tonnes, 20 per cent higher than last year. Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the main barley producing states.

After arrivals begin, malt making factories normally procure over 60 per cent of their requirement during April-June. “However, this year, since malt industries are assured of continuous supply throughout the year, that too at lower prices, they have ...More Info

Premier Australian maltster and barley trader, ABB Grain Ltd, reported on May, 20 an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$30.6 million for the half-year ended 31 March 2009, which is A$3.0 mln or 9% down on the previous half-year.

The half year result was adversely affected by the write-down of stock values and losses incurred in the fertiliser business of A$9.8 mln after tax, due to a significant fall in global fertiliser prices. Before the fertiliser losses, a strong underlying NPAT of A$40.5 mln was recorded, the agribusiness said.

ABB announced a fully franked interim dividend of 10.0 cents per share, to be paid on 30 June 2009, with a record date of 16 June 2009.

Managing Director, Michael Iwaniw, said that although the result was not as strong as he would have liked it was solid considering the challenging environment.

The full-year underlying profit expectation has been revised to A$53 mln to A$63 mln to reflect first half fertiliser and other losses. This is before expected net one-off items of approximately A$6.0 mln after tax, principally representing due diligence costs associated with the AWB and Viterra proposals. A full-year result in the above range reflects an improvement ...More Info

Sofie Malfliet, Koen Goiris, Guido Aerts and Luc De Cooman

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 115(1), 49–63, 2009 Although currently light beers have a high market share in the US, this beer style is still not accepted on the European continent because light beers are considered watery, mainly on account of lack of mouthfeel. In this paper, the flavour quality, including flavour stability, of five commercial light beers was evaluated in comparison with their corresponding pilsner beers derived from the same breweries. Through detailed physicochemical and sensory evaluation, followed by multivariate data analysis, the fresh beers could be differentiated according to their origin (US or European) and beer style (light or pilsner). Potential flavour deficiencies of fresh light beers were determined as too much sweetness, lack of bitterness, and especially reduced fullness. As a result, the fresh light beers were less preferred than their corresponding pilsner. Upon ageing, the light beers were generally less flavour stable than their pilsner counterparts. This is mainly ascribed to increased sensory perception of cardboard and ribes staling flavours in most aged light beers. Nevertheless, based on detailed analytical/sensory investigation, it was clearly demonstrated that one of the light beers involved in this study showed enhanced flavour stability with respect to all other beers, including the pilsner beers. Key words: flavour deficiencies, flavour stability, light beer, multivariate statistical analysis. Load full article, 15 pages, 2026 Kb, PDF file