Belgian brewer Duvel Moortgat posted an 11.4% increase in consolidated turnover to €53.3 million for the first six months of 2009.

In its report posted on August, 31, the company said it “had a fine first six months” with all brands and all markets it operates seeing a rise in turnover. EBIT increased by 20.4% to €10 million, while EBITDA rose by 12.3% in the first half of 2009. Depreciations were €400,000 higher than last year, Duvel said.

The share of foreign activities in Duvel Moortgat’s total turnover of the first six months has risen to 45.1% from 42.4% in the same period of 2008.

Turnover in Belgium rose by 6.2%. This can be explained by the fact that all of the group’s brands have done better on the Belgian market, both on the on- and off-trade markets.

In the United States, turnover increased by 7.2%, despite the impact of the crisis on the overall American interest in specialty beers.

Sales in the Netherlands grew by 34.8%. In the first quarter, initiatives on the on-and off-trade markets were intensified, resulting in the commercial team being reinforced.

In France, turnover increased by 11.7% in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period of ...More Info

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced on September, 1 an operating income of P8.7 billion for the first half of 2009, 6% higher versus same period last year.

The majority of SMC’s businesses showed sustained revenue growth despite a general slowdown in the economy, bringing consolidated net sales to P84.9 billion this period, a 7% improvement over last year.

Domestic beer revenues likewise grew by 4%, albeit at a slower pace than last year, while operating income increased by 6% as a result of focused efforts to contain costs, San Miguel said.

The company’s net financing charges for the period is P232 million, versus last year’s net financing income of P3.3 billion which included foreign exchange translation gains.

Consolidated net income of P55.6 billion ended substantially higher than last year’s P19.7 billion.

According to analysts, the company’s net income rose largely due to the sale of a 43.25 percent stake in San Miguel Brewery Inc. to Japan's Kirin Holdings Co.

Excluding the one-off items, recurring net income is P5.3 billion for the current period which is 3% lower than the same period last year. One-off items include gain from the sale of SMC’s 43.25% stake in domestic beer of P50.7 billion which was used ...More Info

Malaysia’s leading brewer Guinness Anchor Berhad (GAB) posted for the financial year 2009 a revenue of RM1.29 billion and profit before tax of RM191.2 million to record its best ever financial year performance since the company's inception 45 years ago.

“This marks the eighth consecutive year that GAB has experienced growth in market share, revenue and profit before tax,” the company said in a statement on August, 28.

For the financial year ended 30 June 2009, GAB's revenue grew by 7.6 percent and profit before tax grew by 13.2 percent versus the previous financial year.

Revenue for the fourth quarter ended 30 June 2009 improved by 104 percent to RM276.3 million when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2008. Profit before tax for the same period was also 50 percent higher, up from RM25.3 million to RM38 million. Earnings per share for the financial year meanwhile, grew to 47 sen from 41.7 sen a year ago.

In view of the Group's performance, GAB is proposing to declare a final dividend of 31 sen per 50 sen stock unit tax exempt for the financial year ended 30 June 2009. This brings the total net dividends for the financial year under review to 41 sen per ...More Info

Kingway Brewery Holdings Limited announced on September, 1 its unaudited consolidated results for the six months ended 30 June 2009.

The company’s total beer sales volume for the first half of the year was 390,000 tonnes (2008: 309,000 tonnes), representing an increase of 26.2% over the same period last year. The consolidated revenue was HK$749 million (2008 (restated): HK$639 million), representing an increase of 17.2% as compared to the same period last year. The unaudited consolidated profit for the period was HK$9.11 million (2008 (restated): consolidated loss of HK$41.38 million).

The sales volume of beer for the first half of the year exhibit a growth as compared to that of the same period last year. This was primarily due to the high sales growth rate recorded by the brewery plants located outside Guangdong that have commenced operations in recent years as a result of market expansion and development, as well as the considerable sales volume growth recorded in Guangdong during the period under review, the company commented.

During the period under review, production, distribution and sales of Kingway beer remained the core business of the group. Approximately 58% of the beer sold was produced by the brewery plants in Guangdong, while the remaining ...More Info

Results reported by Estonian brewer A. Le Coq for the first half of this year have been better than expected, Pivnoe Delo communicated on September, 2.

Despite the fact that the brewer’s turnover and revenue dropped in H1 2009 by 15% to EEK527 mln and EEK90 mln respectively, this was beyond the company’s forecasts anyway, taking into account the decline in the overall market. This has been one of the best results among the brewing companies in Estonia, it is reported.

The brewer also improved its position in the most important segments of the nation’s beer market.

“Comparing the general market situation and the 2008 results of our rivals, we are content with our results of the first half of 2009. I believe all companies whose results dropped less than by 20% could be considered successful,” CEO Tarmo Noop said. “According to Nielsen data, beer sales decreased by 7.6% in the first half of this year. Our company has increased its share of the Estonian beer market to 38.4%.”

Latvian brewer A/s Cēsu alus increased by 3% its beer sales volume in the first half of 2009 to 31 mln litres, Pivnoe Delo posted on September, 2.

According to Nielsen data, the company’s market share grew by 3% to 29% in the first six months of this year.

“The results of the first half are seen as very good taking into account the economic situation in the country and the sharp decline in purchasing power,” Marketing Director Gustavs Zatlers commented.

The brewer’s turnover increased by 3% as compared to the last year.

The company said one of its main achievements over the reporting period was expanding its production line which allowed it to start exports to Estonia and Lithuania.

ABB Grain, Australia’s leading grain trader, announced on August 27 details of its 2009/10 pools.

This harvest the pools will focus on specific regions and marketing opportunities, ABB Grain said.

ABB’s pools manager, Anthony Fitzgerald, said the pools in barley, wheat and canola would draw upon the company’s extensive marketing experience.

“They’re aimed at providing a range of simple cash flow alternatives and achieving a return above the average market price during the life of the pool,” he said. “For the coming harvest we will be offering regional pools to allow growers in the specific catchments to benefit from particular advantages of the grain in their region: Eyre Peninsula Pool for feed barley, malting barley, and wheat; A South Australian Pool for canola; A South East Australian Pool for feed barley, malting barley, and wheat (SE Australia being defined by port zones in central SA and Victoria); A Southern NSW Pool for wheat; and A Western Australian Pool for feed barley, malting barley - domestic, malting barley – export, canola and wheat.”

ABB will underwrite a guaranteed minimum pool return (GMPR) based on the pool estimate as of the last week in October as follows: wheat – 65% FOB less 100% costs; ...More Info

C. Lekkas, A.E. Hill, B. Taidi, J. Hodgson, and G.G. Stewart

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 115(2), 134–139, 2009 The utilisation of small peptides by brewing yeast is poorly understood despite a wealth of information on peptide transport by other microorganisms. A novel method for detection, isolation and measurement of small peptides during brewery wort fermentations was used to monitor utilisation by ale and lager yeast strains. Oligopeptide levels in wort were found to fluctuate throughout the fermentations. Measurement of extracellular protease activity provided evidence that yeast are able to continually regulate protease production in order to break down wort polypeptides into utilisable nitrogeneous materials. Key words: free amino nitrogen, wort oligopeptides, yeast proteases. Load full article, 6 pages, 363 kb , PDF file