E-Malt.com Flash 18a. May 02

Mexico: Grupo Modelo posted strong results for Q1 2005: exports boosted 23.6%

Mexican beer maker, Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V., the brewer of Corona beer brand, announced on April 28 that during the first quarter of the year...more info

Poland: Top three breweries of Poland sold 5.66 million hl of beer in Q1 2005

Three Polish largest breweries, which are the members of Polish beer association Browary Polskie, control 90% of Poland’s beer market...more info

Canada: Molson Coors Brewing Co. said its loss for the first quarter was wider than originally reported

Molson Coors Brewing Co., the fifth largest in the world, said on May 2 that its loss for the first quarter was wider than originally reported last week, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, May 2.

Molson Coors, which was created when Montreal-based Molson and Colorado-based Adolph Coors merged in February, said on Monday that, excluding special items, it had an after-tax loss of $8.4 million for the 12-weeks ended March 27, instead $5.1 million reported initially on April 28.

Excluding special charges, the brewer, whose operations include Canada, the United States and Brazil, had a pro forma after-tax loss of $7 million, or 9 cents a share, rather than $4 million, or 4 cents a share, as reported on April 28.

"There was a mistake in taking into account the minority interest in the Brazilian asset," said a Molson Coors' spokeswoman. The brewer said net debt on a consolidated basis was about $2.78 billion as of April 27.

Last week, Molson Coors said net debt was about $2.75 billion to $2.8 billion and reported a first-quarter loss of $46.5 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with a pro forma profit of $4.8 million, or 13 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Results included $40.7 million in merger related charges.

Shares of Molson Coors rose $1.21, or 2 percent, to $62.96 on the New York Stock Exchange. On the Toronto Stock Exchange, the brewer was up C$1.05 at C$78.91.

USA: Boston Beer Company posted good results for Q1 2005

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. announced on May 3 it achieved first quarter 2005 diluted earnings per share of $.27, a $.18 increase over the same period last year. Net revenue increased 9.1% in the first quarter 2005, and net income increased by $2.7 million over the prior year.

The net revenue increase in the first quarter was driven by a shipment volume increase of 6.5% and a 2.5% price and package mix related increase. The first quarter increase in net income was primarily driven by the revenue increase and deferrals in advertising spending as the Company withheld spending prior to the introduction of the Company's new brand campaign which began in March 2005.

Distributor sales of the Boston Beer brands to retail (depletions) declined 1.4% from the first quarter 2004. Jim Koch, Chairman and Founder of the Company, commented, "While we are pleased with our earnings growth, we are somewhat disappointed with the first quarter depletion results. January proved to be a difficult month for us as well as the entire industry, but we saw some improvement in the remainder of the quarter. In early March, we introduced our new brand communication and believe that it capitalizes on the roots and essence of Samuel Adams' success. We are excited by this new campaign."

Martin Roper, Boston Beer President and CEO said, "We believe the Samuel Adams brand continues to maintain strong brand equity. Continued strong growth in Samuel Adams Seasonals, Brewmaster's Collection and Twisted Tea, offset some weakness in Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Sam Adams Light. ...more info

Germany: Warsteiner is to take over Altbierbrauer Frankenheim

The third largest German private brewery, Warsteiner, confirmed on Monday, May 2, it is in negotiations to take over the Düsseldorf based brewery...more info

Peru: Grupo Empresarial Bavaria is ready to meet beer giant InBev in Peru

Colombia’s leading beer maker, Grupo Empresarial Bavaria (GEB) announced it is ready to stand up against beer giant InBev, which announced its entry into the Peruvian market by May 2005. Bavaria will realize its intentions with the help of a recently introduced pricing plan, Reuters commented on May 3.

Bavaria, which now has 99 % of the beer market in Colombia and neighbouring Peru, said its Peruvian sales rose 6.3 %, excluding PepsiCo Inc. products, during the first three months of this year compared with the same 2004 period.

"This result demonstrates that our marketing strategy is working and that we are ready to go up against InBev, which announced its entry into the Peruvian market by May 2005," Chief Financial Officer Mauricio Restrepo told analysts on a conference call to explain first-quarter results.

He said the company is preparing to maximize revenues in Peru with a pricing plan to push different brands toward consumers with different amounts of money to spend.

"Our beers in Peru were all priced the same until very recently," Restrepo said. "At the end of last year we introduced a price segmentation policy to set prices between 6 percent and 17 percent below their reference price in order to give consumers more alternatives and differentiate our brands from the rest of the market." ...more info

Malt News

Netherlands: Formal investigation opened into aid in the malt sector in the Netherlands

The European Commission decided on May 3 to open a formal investigation procedure into a measure the Dutch authorities intend to apply in favour of the malt sector. This measure consists of the granting of an investment subsidy amounting to (gross) EUR 7,425,000 for the establishment of a production plant for malt in Eemshaven, province of Groningen. With the investment in this plant the whole chain of storage and processing of malting barley and the production and trade in malt will be integrated.

Considering the available information, the Commission can at this stage not determine if the aid proposed is in compliance with EU provisions in the domain of State aid. The Commission is at this stage not certain whether there are sufficient market outlets for the malt that shall be produced in the new plant.

When they have received the official notification of this decision, the Dutch authorities have one month to communicate their observations and provide all the necessary clarifications. The decision will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Other interested parties have one month from the date of the publication to give notice of their comments. These remarks will be sent to the Netherlands, which will be given the possibility to give their reaction to them.

When the Commission has received the requested clarifications from the Dutch authorities, possible comments from other interested parties, and possible observations of the Netherlands on those comments, the Commission will establish a decision about the compatibility of the measure with the common market.

Barley News

EU: The EU has issued 500,000 tonnes of export licences mainly for malting barley

The EU has issued 500,000 tonnes of export licences for barley at zero refund, i.e. mainly for malting barley destinations...more info

China: China imported 616,000 tonnes of barley in January-March 2005

China imported 616,000 tonnes of barley in January-March this year, a sharp increase over the same period of last year...more info