Carlsberg Breweries is going to buy back shares up to the value of DKK1 billion the brewer announced in May on the presentation of its 1st quarter results. Operating profit has tripled to DKK439 million (US$54 million) way ahead of forecasts of DKK238 million.
This has been driven by a significant improvement in Western Europe where EBIT was up from DKK32 million to DKK139 million, especially in Sweden where the beer market grew 4 percent in Q1 2002.
Despite this improvement, analysts complained that EBIT margins in Western Europe remained slim at 2.5 per cent compared with 11 per cent in Eastern Europe - a decline from 13.1 per cent last year due to unfavourable market conditions in Poland and Turkey.4 per cent to date. The outlook for the full year is encouraging..

In March, 4,189 pubs owned by Nomura’s Unique Pub Co and Voyager Inns were bought by the consortium including Enterprise Inns for an average £480,500 a pub. Newco, the vehicle set up by Enterprise and its partners to handle the acquisition, automatically becomes the second-biggest leased pub company in Britain, with 4,189 pubs, just behind Punch Pub Co on 4,300 leased pubs.

Do you know Hercule Poirot? Perhaps Lucky Luke? Or Manneken Pis? If you do, then you may reward yourself with a glass of Blanche. If you also have an idea what the three might have in common, then you can spoil yourself with a Trappist.

Hercule Poirot - wasn’t that the portly man with the extravagant moustache stuck to his egg-head, who solved the most complicated criminal cases with the help of his little grey cells? Should the name Hercule ring a bell, then you must be a secret reader of your wife’s crime fiction. Hercule Poirot is the world famous detective created by Agatha Christie more than 80 years ago. Those painful years of puberty must have had some benefit apart from straight incisors. Three cheers to you. We know you are Japanese. His case is tragic.

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Will the removal of the Beer Orders, which heralded the demise of the traditional British brewing companies, make a difference? Not a lot, argues Martyn Cornell, beer market analyst at Martin information, London. The Beer Orders did indeed herald the greatest shake-up in the British brewing industry ever, though whether that is what its framers intended is doubtful. However, all the Beer Orders did, according to one analysis, is rapidly (ie within five to 10 years) bring about a situation that was inevitably going to happen anyway, albeit more slowly. The government bottled out and refused to allow Interbrew to own both Bass and Whitbread, otherwise the UK would have just three national brewers.
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What a surprise. While everybody was still pondering the possibilities and feasibilities of the three-way merger between Miller Brewing, South African Breweries and Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), the Scotsmen pulled a fast one and announced that they had bought the beer business of Finnish beverage group Hartwall. The price was €2.1 billion or 10 times Hartwall’s 2001 EBITDA. Last year Hartwall’s EBITDA was €225 million and turnover €807.6 million. The City liked the deal and was even somewhat relieved that for once S&N had bought a company with growth prospects. After all, the City had not been too pleased with S&N’s pricey acquisitions of Kronenbourg in France and Centralcer in Portugal. In Finland Hartwall controls 45 per cent of the total beer and beverage market.

The red triangle, the world’s oldest trademark and the symbol of Bass is disappearing fast from Burton. When going to press the landmark triangle on top of the former Bass maltings and brewery were still there – presumably because they were too difficult to take down. But the signs are bound to go south as Coors is establishing its presence in Britain’s famous beer town. Moreover, as the rights to the brand remain with Interbrew, Coors has no reason to keep the symbols up in the air and for everyone to see. Of course, there are sound reasons for doing away with the old heritage which has sold out, not least the need to sever the link between a location and a brand as brands can be brewed in any location. But still ... 320 jobs will be lost..

n February, Interbrew signed an agreement with Mahou San Miguel to buy its 12.6 per cent stake in Damm. Damm is the third largest brewer in Spain with a market share of 16.6 per cent. It is the market leader in Catalonia, to the north-east of Spain, and brews the brands Estrella Damm and Voll Damm. In 2000 Damm produced 4.4 million hl and grew 3.9 per cent - more than the market’s average which was 2.2 per cent according to Interbrew. Interbrew would not comment on the price it paid for the stake. However a corporate statement said that the price equalled a 6.6 EBITDA multiple. Some bargain, indeed. Unlike its neighbour Italy, Spanish consumers have taken a great liking to beer. In 2000, per capita consumption was 72 litres. And they enjoy their wine too - at 51 litres per person..

Germany’s Warsteiner brewery and Royal Grolsch N.V. have agreed to enter into a strategic alliance. Initially, both brewers are to co-operate in the field of procurement. The joint amount of materials purchased in question is estimated at €60 million per annum. It is the intention of both partners to extend the co-operation to other fields of business activity. At the moment studies are being made to assess the benefits of such further co-operation. In 2001, the privately owned Warsteiner brewery sold 5.6 million hl of beer. It employs 1 200 people. Grolsch’s total sales amounted to 3.1 million hl in 2001 while turnover was €273 million. The Dutch brewer employs 900 people.

Royal Grolsch N.V. reported a world-wide sales volume for the Grolsch brand of 2.95 million hl and a total net profit of €28.6 million in 2001. Both volume and profit stood at record levels. Net profit was 6 per cent higher than in 2000, while the operating result rose 5 per cent and net turnover 7per cent. Further growth in sales volume, operating result and net profit is expected in 2002.
Net turnover rose 6.7 per cent in 2001 to €272.6 million (2000: €255.4 million). This increase was largely attributable to price increases in the domestic market and volume growth in the United Kingdom and other export markets. The operating result increased 4.6 per cent in 2001 to €38.6 million (2000: €36.9 million).
Net profit (profit on ordinary operations after tax) was 6.0 million)..

Heineken’s full year results were at the top end of analysts’ expectations. They showed a 15 per cent rise in net profits to €715 million from €621million in 2000. The bottom line benefited from a €52 million gain on the sale of the company’s stake in a Spanish hotel group, as well as a cash dividend from Whitbread. Net turnover increased by 13 per cent to €9.16 billion from €8.1 billion in 2000 and operating profit rose by 22 per cent to €1.1 billion from €921 million in 2000. Sales of Heineken beer rose by 4 per cent to 22.4 million hl world-wide. A 20 per cent rise in the volume of Amstel Light in the US compensated for lower volumes of Amstel in Europe. Total Amstel volume remained stable at 10.8 million hl.