Happy go lucky

Beer and wine company The Foster’s Group reported that it was on target to reach its 2006 full-year earnings guidance as first quarter performance had proceeded according to plan. The group expects cost savings of AUD 40 to 50 million (EUR 25 – 30 million) in fiscal 2006, rising to AUD 145 million in 2008, from its AUD 3.2 billion takeover of Australian wine company Southcorp earlier this year.

Tut tut

Models have bad hair days, at Lion Nathan, however, they must have had a bad hair week following the publication of the company’s annual results. On the New Zealand stock exchange, Lion Nathan’s shares fell sharply at the beginning of November after the Australasian brewer booked an annual net profit of AUD 224.8 million (EUR 140 million) for the fiscal year 2004/05, up 10.9 percent on the previous year, but signalled its New Zealand operations are weak. Australian investment bank Macquarie immediately downgraded Lion Nathan to “underperform”. In a report Macquarie said that the results were in line but that the lower earnings growth outlook was disappointing. In effect, the stock looked expensive on a “price for growth ratio.797 billion (EUR 1.1 billion) being lower than in 2004 (AUD 2..

Orange opposition

You would not have thought that Buddhist monks would take an active interest in such mundane matters as the flotation of shares on the Thai stock exchange. Yet, following strong opposition from protesters clad in orange, the Stock Exchange of Thailand has postponed its decision to allow Thai Beverages, the country’s largest beer producer, to list on the market. The controversial listing, which has already been postponed several times, was going to raise some USD 950 million (EUR 797 million) for the company which brews market leader Chang Beer, Mekhong rum, Saeng Som and Hong Thong whiskies. A final decision on the listing, which would have been the largest by value in Thailand’s history, is now expected before the end of the year.

Whose round is it?

Russian analysts seem convinced that the multinationals’ interest in snapping up Russian breweries is not going to wane although the country’s beer boom is set to fizzle. Heineken said that the market will grow by 5 percent this year – a small cry from the 12 percent surge in 2004 – but even that figure is regarded as way too optimistic by some local analysts. Yet, there is no denying that all major players apart from market leader Baltika suffer from capacity constraints. One way out would be to buy up the few remaining independent breweries. However, these breweries will demand handsome premiums, following the examples set by Stepan Razin, Tinkoff or ITB this year. Independent Krasny Vostok in Kazan could cost up to USD 1 billion. ....

Doctor Diesel

Who would have thought that Larnaca airport on the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean offers almost daily flights to such far flung places as Yekaterinburg in the Urals? Not to mention direct flights to Moscow and St Petersburg. Yet on most days the airport’s waiting area is filled with women who sport blond beehives the size of their shopping bags. Accompanied by men who’ll be wearing the uniform outfit of new Russian “businessmeny” – garishly coloured shell suits – these formidable ladies will eventually embark on their plane chattering away while the locals will heave yet another sigh of relief.

The lure of a billion customers

With beer output continuing to rise in the high single digits, SABMiller, Heineken, InBev and Anheuser-Busch are pondering more plant buys in China. With annual sales of about 270 million hl, China has become the world’s number one beer market yet profits are low, especially since brewers struggle with an estimated 20 percent of overcapacity.

Just fancy that

Australian business etiquette has always been straightforward: no beating about the bush, or subtle approaches. It’s right between the eyes, mate, or nothing. In that respect, Lion Nathan’s hostile takeover bid for the Coopers Brewery follows a well-established tradition.

Tinkoff sells brewing business

Gives a new meaning to the bouncer’s question: "Is that gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" At St Petersburg’s Tinkoff brewpub they ask you for your coat - and for that piece of metal that some of their more discerning punters were carrying under their jackets. Once you have made it past the bouncers, the sharp-eyed security guys and the metal detector, you have entered a first-class brewpub in that cosmopolitan style that’s all the rage with Russia’s "businessmeni". Oleg Tinkov, the man behind the brewpub restaurant business has now sold his breweries to InBev for EUR 167 million. The Tinkoff restaurant business is not a part of the deal and Oleg Tinkov will retain it for himself. ...

Making the best of a good opportunity

SABMiller, the world’s second-largest brewer, plans to spend more than USD 125 million on expanding breweries and building brands in India as economic growth boosts demand for beer in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.The five-year investment plan was revealed only a few weeks after London-based SABMiller bought out its joint venture partner in India to gain control of the country’s second-largest beer maker. The money will also be used to step up marketing and improve the standard of barley it uses in India. Consumers in India, which has a population of more than 1 billion people, drink just 1 litre of beer per person every year so there is ample of hope that this will change over time. ...

A toast to that

Q: Which wine brand is the single largest selling Australian wine in the world? A: No, it’s not Jacob’s Creek, first launched in 1976 and owned by Pernod-Ricard. It’s the brand Yellow Tail which is produced by Casella Wines in New South Wales, a family-owned wine company. Their Yellow Tail brand sold 7.5 million cases last year and projected a 30 percent increase in sales this year while Jacob’s Creek achieved sales of 7.1 million cases and recorded a 16 percent increase in the first quarter this year. Yellow Tale started its winery in 2001 with forecasted sales to the U.S. of 25,000 cases. In the end, it sold 500,000 cases that year. The following year sales jumped to 2.2 million cases and have spiralled rapidly higher ever since. While Yellow Tail’s major market is the U.S.S..