China Resources Enterprise, Limited (‘the Company’ and together with its subsidiaries, ‘the Group’) announced on May, 24 its unaudited quarterly financial and operational review for the three months ended 31 March 2010.

Consolidated profit attributable to the company’s shareholders increased by about 8 times year-on-year to approximately HK$3,727 million while that generated by the continuing operations amounted to approximately HK$716 million, up 62.0% year-on-year.

Excluding the after-tax effect of revaluation of investment properties and major disposal of non-core assets and investments, the group’s underlying consolidated net profit from the continuing operations would have increased by 25.6% year-on-year. Consolidated turnover from the continuing operations amounted to approximately HK$21,104 million, up 36.7% year-on-year.

“For the beverage operation, we aim at boosting our market share tactically to reinforce our leading position in the beer market, and exploring expansion opportunities in new markets for the non-alcoholic beverage productsBy leveraging our stronger and more focused consumer business platform, the Group will further tap the enormous growth potential of China’s consumer market amid the gradual economic recovery,” Mr. Chen Lang, Managing Director of the company, said.

The turnover and earnings of the beverage division rose by 13.5% and 52.9% respectively to HK$4,460 million and HK$26 million. Sales volume of beer ...More Info

The Western European beer market fell 2.5 percent in volume terms in 2009, with nearly all markets falling, while the Heineken brand held on to its top spot for the 22nd year, independent researcher Plato Logic communicated on May, 24.

The world's four biggest brewer - Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller, Heineken and Carlsberg - are all based in Western Europe and have relied on growth from the emerging markets of Latin America and Asia rather than recession-hit western Europe.

"Nearly all markets were lower in what was clearly a difficult year, with volumes in the on-trade channel falling by around 6 percent," Plato director Ian Pressnell said.

The premium beer market declined by more than 3 percent, showing it had suffered more as beer drinkers traded down to cheaper brews in tough economic times, he said.

The Heineken brand sold over 11 million hectolitres of beer in 2009 to retain its top spot while Carlsberg with nearly 8 million hectolitres leapfrogged Molson Coors' Carling beer into second place.

Heineken brews Foster's and Amstel filled fourth and fifth spots, while Carlsberg's Kronenbourg came sixth and AB InBev's Stella Artois seventh.

Foster’s Group Limited, Australia’s largest brewer, said on May, 26 it expects EBITS of A$1,050-1,080 million for year ending 30 June 2010, broadly in line with consensus estimates.

Foster’s intends to pursue a demerger (a structural separation to create separate stock exchange listings) of its Beer and Wine divisions, subject to a detailed evaluation of the issues, costs and benefits to Foster’s shareholders and ongoing assessment of prevailing economic and capital market conditions.

“The beer business is Australia’s market leader and, under new leadership, is focussed on reinvesting in its key brands to continue its track record of positive earnings growth”, Foster’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ian Johnston, said.

“Foster’s wine business is showing signs of growth but continues to be impacted by oversupply in Australia, subdued consumer demand in key international markets and a strong Australian dollar during the 2010 financial year.”

The decision to pursue a demerger follows significant progress with Foster’s Transformation Agenda, announced with the release of the Wine Strategy Review in February 2009, including:

• completing the appointment of new senior management to the Wine and Beer businesses; • implementing separate stand-alone organisational structures across Beer and Wine, including sales and marketing teams in Australia, and re-integrating supply ...More Info

Cobra Beer has reached an agreement with AB InBev to brew its namesake beer at the global beer giant’s plant near Hyderabad, VCCircle communicated on May, 25.

The arrangement with AB InBev gives Cobra access to one million cases production base in the key southern markets that account for over 50% of Indian beer consumption, it is reported.

This will be a pure manufacturing pact in which Cobra will pay AB InBev's local arm, Crown Beers, a production fee depending on the utilization, said a source privy to the development, and who did not wish to be quoted.

"Cobra can use up to one lakh cases of production capacity (translating to a million cases annually). The latest move will also help AB InBev better utilise its excess production capacity at Crown Beers, which can produce 6 million cases annually," sources said.

Cobra India's Managing Director Ravi Kaza could not be reached for comments immediately.

Cobra, which raised $7.5 million from Brahma through private equity placement, is rejigging its troubled Indian operations after the cash infusion about two months back. The PE transaction has also helped Cobra Beer complete the acquisition of Patna-based Iceberg Breweries, which has been hanging fire for nearly two years.

This move will ...More Info

According to the Ministry for the Environment, 50.2 litres of beer per person were drunk in Spain during 2009, The Euro Weekly News communicated on May, 26.

The 60 million tourists who visit Spain every year, mainly British and Germans, drink 30 per cent of the total amount of beer produced in Spain. With the drop in tourism and the smaller amount of money being spent per tourist, this has also fallen.

The per capita beer consumption of 50.2 litres is 14 per cent less than in 2008 and the third consecutive drop in beer consumption. The study reveals that 67 per cent of the beer is consumed in bars, restaurants and other catering venues, while 33 per cent is drunk at home, a percentage which has risen continually since 2001, when it represented only 24 per cent of the total amount.

Despite this, beer accounts for more than 80 per cent of the total income in the sector, due to the fact that it is more expensive and hardly any white-brands are used.

In the past year alone, 33.8 million hectolitres of beer were produced in Spain, making it the fourth major producer in the EU and the tenth in the world. The ...More Info

For the first time in fifteen years, France’s beer sales slightly increased last year, L’Alsace.fr communicated on May, 22.

“In 2009, domestic beer consumption in France increased by 2%. However, beer sales in cafés and restaurants dropped by more than 5%,” Gérard Laloi, president of the French Brewers Association, is quoted as saying.

Mr. Laloi explained the difference in trends by the fact that a wide range of beers that can be found in sale outlets but often miss on-trade.

“Consumers prefer white and abbey beers to the classic blondes offered in bars,” he said. “The country’s total beer consumption slightly increased last year, which is the first increase in more than fifteen years, except in 2003.”

World’s largest brewer AB InBev has put up for sale most of its UK beers, Business Sale Report communicated on May, 26.

The brands for sale are Flowers, Boddingtons and Bass Ale, it is reported.

Bass Ale, which was established in 1777, has lost its appeal with drinkers and has also suffered from a lack of marketing, while its owner has given most attention to its global lagers.

According to the media, Bass Ale, once a popular choice for beer drinkers in Britain, has been placed on the block with a price tag of only £10 million to £15 million. The sale does not include the trademark and the international rights, as it remains very popular in the US.

Boddingtons, once a major part of the old Whitbread Beer Company, has likewise declined in market share over recent years, and under InBev's ownership, since the Manchester-based Strangeway brewery closed in 2005, where it had been brewed since the 18th century.

Marston's now brews Bass under contract, while Boddingtons is also brewed under contract by Hydes.

AB InBev may find it hard to find a buyer for the beverage brands, despite their historical appeal. Rivals such as Marston's, Molson Coors, Wells & Youngs, and C&C Group have ...More Info

Interest in malt purchases has just slightly increased in the last couple of weeks as brewers are getting ready for the summer, industry sources report.

Of all the EU nations, only Germany has reported positive beer sales for March so far, the rest are still on the long road to recovery.

At the moment, the malt market is still in a wait-and-see mood, waiting for a further decline in malting barley prices.

D. Evan Evans, Robert Dambergs, David Ratkowsky, Chengdao Li, Stefan Harasymow, Sophia Roumeliotis and Jason K. Eglinton

J. Inst. Brew. 116(1), 86–96, 2010
ABSTRACT
Prediction of malt fermentability (apparent attenuation limit –AAL) by measurement of the diastatic power enzymes (DPE), alpha-amylase, total limit dextrinase, total beta-amylase, beta-amylase thermostability, and the Kolbach index (KI or free amino nitrogen – FAN) is superior to the conventional use of diastatic power (DP) alone. The thermostability of beta-amylase is known to be an important factor in determining fermentability, thus the thermostability of the other relatively thermolabile enzyme, limit dextrinase, was investigated to determine if it was also useful in predicting fermentability. To facilitate this aim, methods were developed for a rapid and cost efficient assay of both beta-amylase and limit dextrinase thermostability. Internationally important Australian and international malting varieties were compared for their total limit dextrinase and beta-amylase activity and thermostability. Interestingly, the level of limit dextrinase thermostability was observed to be inversely correlated with total limit dextrinase activity. The prediction of malt fermentability was achieved by both forward step-wise multi-linear regression (MLR) and the partial least squares (PLS) multivariate model development methods. Both methods produced similar identifications of the parameters predicting wort fermentability at similar levels of predictive power. Both models were substantially better at predicting fermentability than the traditional use of DP on its own. The emphasis of this study was on the identification of predictive factors that can be consistently used in models to predict fermentability, because the model parameter estimates will subtly vary depending on mashing conditions, yeast strain/fermentation conditions and malt source. The application of these multivariate model development methods (PLS and MLR) enabled the identification of further potential fermentability predicting factors. The analyses divided the predictive parameters into those defined by DP enzymes and those associated with modification (KI, FAN, fine/coarse difference, wort beta-glucan and friability). Surprisingly, limit dextrinase thermostability was not a substantial predictor of fermentability, presumably due to its negative correlation with total limit dextrinase activity. The application of these insights in the malting and brewing industries is expected to result in substantial improvements in brewing consistency and enable more specific quality targets for barley breeder’s progeny selection cut-off limits to be more precisely defined. Key words: barley, diastatic power enzymes, fermentability, malt, multiple linear regression, partial least squares. Load full article, 8 pages, 1103 kb , PDF file