E-Malt.com News article: 1424

Miller Brewing Co., the U.S.-based unit of the world's second-biggest brewer, SABMiller Plc SAB.L , said on August 11 it would cut around 200 jobs as part of an overhaul of its corporate office, under Reuters statement. Milwaukee-based Miller said in a statement that the job losses, effective next month, were part of plans to turn the business around.

SABMiller SABJ.J , which makes Miller Lite, Pilsner Urquell and Castle beers, said last month that first-quarter profits at Miller, acquired in July 2002 for $5.6 billion, were lower than the year before.

In May, the firm disappointed investors by saying it would take three years to around Miller.

Miller has been losing sales and market share for years as it battles the world's biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch BUD.N , which makes Budweiser and controls half the beer market in the United States.

"This redesign ... (is) about alignment of the organisation and creating the right shape for the business," Miller President and CEO Norman Adami said in the statement.

The firm said the planned restructuring would create a smaller and more focused corporate structure, in line "with the realities of the company's business performance over the past several years."

SABMiller's London-listed shares closed unchanged at 448-3/4 pence on Monday.


13 August, 2003