UK-based global beverages giant Diageo plc communicated on August, 27 its preliminary results for the year ended 30 June 2009.

On a reported basis, Diageo’s consolidated sales increased by £1,640 million from £10,643 million in the year ended 30 June 2008 to £12,283 million in the year ended 30 June 2009. On a reported basis net sales increased by £1,221 million from £8,090 million in the year ended 30 June 2008 to £9,311 million in the year ended 30 June 2009. Exchange rate movements increased reported sales by £1,362 million and reported net sales by £1,095 million. Acquisitions increased reported sales by £160 million and reported net sales by £151 million.

On a reported basis, operating costs before exceptional items increased by £912 million in the year ended 30 June 2009 due to an increase in cost of sales of £623 million, from £3,245 million to £3,868 million, an increase in marketing expenses of £73 million, from £1,239 million to £1,312 million, and an increase in other operating expenses of £216 million, from £1,302 million to £1,518 million. The impact of exchange rate movements increased total operating costs before exceptional items by £928 million.

Exceptional costs totalling £170 million, being £166 million in ...More Info

Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes announced on August, 26 its consolidated interim financial results as of and for the six months period ended June 30.

In the first half of 2009, Anadolu Efes’ consolidated sales volume, including beer and soft drink volumes, increased by 4.0% over the same period of the previous year and reached 19.1 mln hl. The company’s total beer sales volume for the first half is estimated at 11.3 million hectolitres, down 1.9% yoy.

Anadolu Efes’ consolidated net sales revenue was TRL1,960.2 million in 1H2009, indicating a growth of 10.0% year-on-year. The net revenue growth ahead of volume growth was achieved through local currency price increases.

The company’ consolidated gross profit increased by 10.4% in the first six months of 2009 over the same period of the previous year and reached TRL1,006.2 million. Despite the significant improvement in EBI’s (the Netherlands-based Efes Breweries International with brewing business in CIS and Georgia) gross margin due to favourable input prices, Anadolu Efes’ consolidated gross profit margin remained almost flat at 51.3% in the first half of 2009 due to the declined gross margin in soft drinks and Turkey Beer Operations.

However, increased operational efficiencies coming from the company’s soft drink and Turkey ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Belgium-based world’s No. 1 brewer, announced on August, 27 that it has signed an agreement to sell the Tennent’s Lager brand and associated trading assets in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (part of InBev UK Limited) to C&C Group plc (“C&C”) for a total enterprise value of £180 million, representing 8.3x 2008 Pro-Forma Normalized EBITDA.

Included in the sale are the Glasgow Wellpark Brewery in Scotland, where Tennent’s Lager is brewed, rights to the Tennent’s Lager brand itself, Tennent’s Ales and assets located in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which currently belong to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company said.

The remainder of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s UK business located in England and Wales is not part of this transaction and will remain part of InBev UK Limited.

As part of the agreement, Anheuser-Busch InBev will appoint C&C as distributor of certain Anheuser-Busch InBev brands in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and C&C will grant Anheuser-Busch InBev the right to use the Tennent’s Super and Tennent’s Pilsner brands in certain worldwide geographies.

Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: "The sale of these assets will unlock value for our shareholders and ensure continued support for ...More Info

Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd on August, 27 said it has formed a strategic partnership under which Japan's Asahi Breweries will keep a 19.99 percent stake in the Chinese beer maker for the next five years.

The deal, meant to "enhance the profitability and competitiveness" of Tsingtao, makes China's best-known beer brand Asahi's exclusive strategic partner in the brewery business on the mainland, a statement on the Hong Kong exchange website reads.

Tsingtao had previously announced a drastic cut in capital spending this year as consumption is expected to drop in a fiercely competitive market.

Asahi acquired its current stake in Tsingtao from the Belgian Anheuser Busch-InBev's nearly 27 percent holdings in Tsingtao in April for $667 million. Anheuser sold its remaining 7 percent stake to Chinese private investor Chen Fashu for $235 million the following month.

Under the latest agreement, Asahi will be allowed to nominate one non-executive director and a supervisor to Tsingtao.

Qingdao Beer Group Company holds a 31.41% stake in Tsingtao.

Belgium-based AB InBev is visibly anchoring its presence in the Indian beer market by forging a manufacturing alliance with Mumbai-based Wadhawan Group, The Economic Times posted on August, 27.

AB InBev is close to striking an exclusive licensing deal for the Wadhawan Group’s greenfield Privilege Breweries, which is a unit of the listed real estate firm HDIL, it is reported.

Wadhawan-led HDIL is foraying into brewing through a unit near Pune that will go on stream soon with capacity of 250 thousand cases (of 7.8 litre each) monthly.

The new tie-up could mark the second manufacturing footprint for the iconic Budweiser, which is currently brewed only at a plant in Hyderabad, set up when Anheuser-Busch entered India in 2007.

AB InBev is likely to underwrite the entire capacity. “We are in the final stages of negotiations and a formal announcement of the deal can be expected soon,” CEO of AB InBev, Raja Mukherji, is quoted as saying.

AB InBev also operates other brands like Tennents and Armstrong in India.

Budweiser’s market share expanded five-fold since April 2009 in Andhra Pradesh as top brewers, United Breweries and SABMiller, sparred with the AP Beverage Corporation over the state government’s resistance to revise beer prices. UB’s ...More Info

Danish brewer Royal Unibrew reported on August, 26 an operating profit of DKK87 mln for the first half of 2009 versus DKK63 mln registered for the same period last year.

In the first half ended June 30, 2009, the Royal Unibrew Group realised a profit before tax of DKK23 million, which is above expectations and a DKK39 million improvement on 2008.

In H1 2009, Royal Unibrew improved its earnings and market position as compared to the same period of last year in spite of the global crisis and the resulting changed customer and consumer behaviours causing lower sales and revenue.

In the period, the Group extended or maintained its market shares in most key markets. However, increased price competition must be noted in several of the Group’s Northern European markets.

In certain markets – in particular Latvia – significant efficiency enhancing measures and a dynamic cost adjustment have been implemented in the light of reduced sales, which has contributed towards protecting earnings in the areas in question.

In Poland, a brewery and two brands were sold with effective transfer at 2 June 2009.

Total group sales in H1 aggregated 3.3 million hectolitres of beer, malt and soft drinks, which is a 13% decrease from 2008.

The net ...More Info

Russia’s largest beer maker Baltika Breweries has won its first victory in its face-off against maltster Russkiy Solod. The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) has found the latter guilty of abusing its dominating position on the nation’s malt market, RBC Daily reported on August, 27.

FAS delivered this judgement ex parte Baltika, which believes that Russkiy Solod (Russian Malt) had imposed on it a shackling RUB3.9 bln contract taking advantage of its monopolistic position on the market in 2008.

According to a statement by the Antimonopoly Service, as a penalty Russkiy Solod may have to pay a fine equal to 1 – 15% of the company’s total receipts from “selling its production on the market where infringement of the law took place, for the year preceding that when the infringement was revealed.”

Previously, St. Petersburg's arbitrary court had dismissed Baltika’s claim to the maltster in which the brewer was seeking a cancellation of the contract.

The decline of the European malting barley market did not stop last week, quite the contrary, La Depeche communicated on August, 28.

Abundant European crop lies heavy on French malting barley prices. Germany, which traditionally is an important consumer of French barley has harvested a rich crop and turned into a dangerous competitor.

Thus, over the last week, the market was quite deserted. The demand is non-existing and market participants are not expecting any activity in the nearest future.

US barley pipelines are so plugged up that growers in most cases have no outlet for their crop, Farm & Ranch Guide posted on August, 27.

Most elevators aren't even tending bids for spot cash old crop malting barley and the few that are offering bids are pricing them at just a dime above feed barley prices.

“Everybody is filled up right now, no one has any space,” said Larry Raap, grain merchandiser for Sun Prairie Grain in Minot, N.D. “We're filled up with old crop and you can't mix old and new crop. Everybody is full. We work with Ruhr Malting and they are even filled up with malt and can't deliver it to the brewers. It's just full from one end of the pipeline to the other.”

Prospects for cleaning out the pipeline and getting things moving aren't very promising. Raap doesn't expect to see much barley being moved until the first part of January for both old and new crop. A large part of this problem goes back to the past two years when the quality of the barley crop was above average.

“In a normal year probably only 60 percent of the barley raised makes malting grade,” Raap said. “But ...More Info

Canadian Wheat Board released on August, 27 its August 2009 Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2009-10 crop year.

Feed barley has dropped C$4 per tonne, while malting barley values are down C$18 to C$20 per tonne from last month.

PRO Commentary 2009-10 crop year

Malting barley Excellent quality and above-average yields in Europe have pressured international malting barley prices over the past month. Increased supplies of European malting quality barley, combined with higher global carry-in, have increased overall world supply. This has resulted in a significant narrowing of the spread between malting quality barley and feed barley, especially for six-row. After a drier June and early July, Australia has received timely rains in its key barley growing areas, maintaining expectations for a large barley crop this year. Canadian supplies of malting barley are expected to be lower due to the smaller crop. Harvest weather during the next month will be critical in determining supplies of Canadian malting barley.

Malting barley values declined by C$21 from the July PRO to C$224 for two-row and by C$19 to C$206 for six-row malting barley.

Feed barley After a brief corn-price rally in early August, reports of a large corn crop have pressured Chicago future values over the past three weeks. ...More Info

ABB Grain Ltd has issued its third profit warning in four months just two weeks before shareholders in Canada's Viterra Inc vote on a proposal to acquire Australia's largest grain company for A$1.6 billion, Trading Room reported on August, 28.

According to the company, its consolidated net profit will reach just A$33-43 mln due to a a write-down on its fertiliser inventory.

Chairman Perry Gunner said Australia's largest grain company by market capitalisation had been hit by a severe contraction in global fertiliser prices which has led to price drops in Australia.

"Slower applications of fertiliser have resulted in increases in stock carried, as ABB believes many producers are choosing to defer their fertiliser purchases in light of a reduction in Australian fertiliser prices," he said in a statement.

The profit warning is the third in four months for ABB which has been suffering from slow demand for Asian malt and Australian rural inputs including fertiliser, agricultural chemicals and merchandise.

ABB issued its full-year 2009 underlying net profit forecast in February, telling the market would fall between A$63 million and A$73 million for the year to September 30, 2009.

The company twice downgraded the guidance by A$10 million at both ends of the range, ...More Info

Daniel G Abernathy, Gary Spedding and Barry Starcher

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 115(2), 122–127, 2009 In this study we present a ninhydrin based microwell assay that can be utilized in place of the traditional Kjeldahl method for the determination of the protein content of beer or wine. In addition, the assay is ideal for the determination of free amino acids in beer (FAN), a term understood and used by brewers, and yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) used by enologists. The assay only measures alpha amino acids and ammonia so other nitrogen sources are not detected, resulting in a 30% reduction in total protein of a variety of beers compared to the Kjeldahl method, which measures nitrogen from all sources. The results also showed that only 25% of the total “protein” in beer is actually derived from peptides larger than 3,500 Kd. Analysis of beer or wine with the microwell assay for total usable nitrogen was compared to the standard FAN and YAN methods and conditions were determined for maximal efficiency and precision. Superior results were obtained with low reaction volumes and a stable sodium acetate buffered ninhydrin reagent at pH 5.5. As an alternative, for use with cuvettes, a reduced volume FAN assay using the same pH 5.5 sodium acetate buffered ninhydrin reagent gave comparable results. The assay is economical, rapid, accurate and applicable to large numbers of samples. Key words: beer, FAN, protein, wine, YAN Load full article, 6 pages, 405 kb , PDF file