SABMiller Plc believes there will be more opportunities to grow through acquisitions in Latin America after missing out on the beer unit of Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB, Bloomberg reported on January, 26.

Losing the auction of the Mexican brewer to Heineken NV “is not the end of the world,” SABMiller’s Latin American President Barry Smith said. “I still think there are acquisition opportunities in Latin America.”

The world’s second-largest brewer cut its forecast for volume growth in Latin America because of a higher consumption tax in Colombia, which accounts for more than 50 percent of SABMiller’s profit in the region. Latin America, which accounts for more than 25 percent of the company’s earnings, should benefit from an increase in per-capita consumption as economic growth returns and consumers switch from local spirits to beer, Smith said.

“The future growth opportunities within our existing markets are big,” Smith said, adding that countries such as Brazil and Venezuela are “very attractive” prospects. SABMiller controls about 98 percent of the Colombian market, and has units in Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador.

Latin American volumes will grow 4 percent to 6 percent in the “medium term,” the brewer said. SABMiller’s previous forecast was 5 percent to 7 ...More Info

Russian beer production increased in December from a year earlier, the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) announced on January, 22.

Production rose 11.1 percent compared with December 2008, after a 3.7 percent increase in November, the service said. As compared to November, the nation’s beer production increased by 22.2 percent in the last month of 2009.

Russian beer output fell 4.8 percent in 2009 from a year earlier to 110 mln hl, according to the report.

Carlsberg’s Baltika Breweries is Russia’s largest beer producer, with 39 percent of the market by value in the first 11 months of 2009, followed by Anheuser-Busch InBev, with 16 percent, according to researcher Business Analytica.

Heineken is third-largest, with 13 percent, followed by SABMiller and Anadolu Efes Biracilik & Malt Sanayii, with 10 percent each.

Japan’s second-largest brewer Kirin Holdings Company, Limited ("Kirin") said on January, 25 it had revised its non-consolidated earnings results forecast for the fiscal year 2009, (previously announced on February 10, 2009) in consideration of its recent business performance and other factors.

The company expects its sales to reach 108 mln yen in the FY ended December 31, 2009 versus the previous forecast of 91 bln yen.

Operating income forecast has been increased from 65 mln yen to 84 mln yen, whereas net income is expected to amount to 82 mln yen (+26.2% on the previous forecast).

The revision is due to larger dividend income from affiliates than initially forecast, Kirin said, adding, however, that as the current non-consolidated earnings revision is due mainly to revision of dividends from affiliates, there will be little impact on the consolidated forecasts.

SABMiller's sales in Colombia may suffer after the government raised the sales tax on beer to 14% from its current 3%, Dow Jones reported on January, 22.

"We expect a modest impact on sales volumes, but we could see volumes off 4.5 percent," said SABMiller Latin America President Barry Smith.

He said the group would look to mitigate the impact of the first Colombian beer price rise since October 2008 by reviewing brewing costs.

The tax rise was one reason why Smith cut his medium term Latin American beer volume annual growth target to 4-6 percent a year from 5-7 percent. He also cited the economic downturn and Colombia's reliance on the sluggish U.S. economy.

Analysts now expect Colombian beer volumes in the year to March 2011 to fall some 3 percent after previously looking for volume growth of around 2 percent.

“What we’ve seen in similar beer markets is that when there’s a big price rise, volumes do suffer,” said Andy Smith, Icap’s head of equities. “Given that it’s such a big market for them, this cannot be good for the direction of consensus numbers.” Smith has a “sell” recommendation on the shares.

SABMiller's Colombian unit, Bavaria SA, will raise the price of beer ...More Info

Brazilian beer consumption rose more than 5 percent last year to 10.7 billion liters, even with the economic slowdown, O Estado de S. Paulo reported on January, 25.

The daily newspaper did not say where it got the information.

Sales rose 11 percent from January to November last year compared with the same period of 2008 because of price increases, Estado said, citing Nielsen data.

Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S has finally won approval from China's Ministry of Commerce to raise its shares in the parent of a smaller Chinese beer maker to nearly 90 percent, The Shanghai Daily reported on January, 23.

The approval is expected to help Carlsberg further strengthen its footprint in west China.

The Danish brewing giant can now take an additional 41 percent stake in Xinjiang Blue Sword Brewing Investment Co, parent of Shanghai-listed Xinjiang Hops Co.

Blue Sword Brewing Investment is a joint venture between Carlsberg and Blue Sword Lanjian (Group) Co formed in 2005, in which Carlsberg holds a 48.93 percent stake.

The stake transfer agreement was signed in April last year but the deal has been postponed four times on concern over Carlsberg's possible monopoly in the beer market in west China.

"Carlsberg already has a strong presence in the beer market in west China, and the move would make it the king of the region," said Huang Mao from Guosen Securities Co.

Other analysts said the deal would not make a huge impact on China's overall beer market.

Carlsberg has focused its development in the west through acquisition and local ventures with total investment of more than 1 billion yuan (US$146 million).

Investment ...More Info

Kirin Holdings Co. and Suntory Holdings Ltd. will likely reach a merger accord during or after February, a person familiar with the matter was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal on January, 24.

The companies are still ironing out difficulties as they look to create a formidable competitor to the world's leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V., the source said.

The two companies said in July that it would be possible to reach an accord by the end of the year or later, but the person said it "may be difficult from a common-sense standpoint" to sign an accord by the end of January.

The person also said that a merger ratio that is satisfactory to both parties is one of the most challenging issues in advancing the merger talks, without elaborating.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Kirin shares were down 1.2% at 1,410 yen ($15.65) midday, in line with broader market weakness due to falling U.S. shares on January, 22 and a stronger yen. But news of the later-than-expected merger accord is also hitting sentiment, said an analyst at a Japanese asset management firm.

"How to assess the value of unlisted Suntory and what merger ratio both sides will agree on ...More Info

Joseph C. Lake, R. Alex Speers, Tom A. Gill, Anna-Jean M. Reid and Douglas S. Singer

J. Inst. Brew. 115(4), 296–299, 2009 ABSTRACT
Premature yeast flocculation (PYF) is a poorly understood condition leading to attenuation of fermentation and poor alcohol yields. The yeast in suspension in fermenting worts prepared from either normal or premature flocculating malts was continually measured during the small 15 mL fermentation test recently developed in the Dalhousie laboratories. A simple inexpensive monitoring system was constructed from a laser level, photometric cell and data logger. This system allowed non-destructive data collection of absorbance data (over 700 data points per fermentation) at ~650 nm. A non-linear modeling technique was applied to the data, and yielded two best-fitting logistic models. The model parameters were quantitatively compared to determine if statistical differences between PYF and normal wort were apparent. A student’s t test of the logistic parameters indicated a significant difference (p > 0.025) between control and PYF worts for the increase in absorbance at the beginning of the fermentation. A significant difference (p > 0.0001) in the inflection time of absorbance down-curve between the control and PYF wort was also noted. Key words: fermentation, flocculation, malt, PYF, yeast.
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