Do as you are being told

While Scottish & Newcastle’s (S&N) board is quietly going about its business of running the company and keeping its lips shut whether there are any imminent investment or divestment plans, there is talk in the City that S&N might still end up under the wings of the high-flyer South African Breweries, although S&N is thought to be very much against the idea. S&N also seems to be set against the idea of divesting its pub estate although it would help it to re-rate the stock further. However, those familiar with the situation argue that management will be doing just that.
British media have been speculating for a while that S&N may consider a property sale, "possibly this year"..

Sun Interbrew boosts sales

Sun Interbrew, which has 11 breweries in Russia (8) and Ukraine (3), reported sales up 29 per cent to 13 million hl 2001 (including beer and softdrinks) from 10 million hl in 2000. Sales by value jumped 39 per cent to €392.2 million in 2001 from €282.9 million in 2000. EBITDA rose to €89.9 million from €61.4 million in 2000. Net income doubled to €22.4 million from €10.8 million. Sun Interbrew is a joint venture between Belgium’s Interbrew and Sun Brewing (part of Sun Group), set up in 1999 to develop its brewing interests in Russia and the Ukraine.

BBH builds new brewery in Eastern Siberia

At the end of May, Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) announced that its Russian subsidiary and largest brewing company in the land of Puzhkin and Pirozhki, is building a new brewery in Habarovsk in Eastern Siberia. The population of the Habarovsk-region is approx. 10 million people. The capacity of the new brewery will be 1.0 million hl, and the plant is scheduled to go on stream in the summer of 2003. The investment is expected to be around US$50 million.

Cost cutting 3

Last year already, South African Breweries (SAB) complained that in Romania low consumer disposable income and an excise regime in favour of spirits have kept prices down, thus countering the positive effects of volume increases. SAB therefore pulled the plug on the business and decided to merge its two Romanian companies, SO Ursus SA and SO Bere Timisoreana SA (acquired by SAB in August 2001) into a single beer company.
The new company, to be called Compania de Bere Romania (CBR) will have its headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, branches in Timisoara, Pitesti, Buzau, Afumati and an office in Bucharest, SAB said. Beer production and packaging at the Pitesti brewery ceased at the end of May, although a company branch and maltings will continue to operate in Pitesti..

A sad state of affairs

Poland’s leading brewer Zywiec Group, which is controlled by Heineken, has reported 105 million zlotys in net losses for 2001 while the group’s total sales increased 12 per cent to 2.63 billion zlotys. Heineken’s four Polish breweries sold 7.97 million hl of beer and increased their market share to 31.8 per cent from 30.9 per cent. Zywiec’s poor results are the consequence of high restructuring costs and costs arising from the integration of new operations into the group. In 2001 beer sales in Poland went up 0.2 per cent from 25 million hl (2000) against a 7.0 per cent growth in 2000. Weakened domestic demand has been blamed on Poland’s high excise rates which are among the highest in Europe. Recent restrictions on beer advertising may have also had a negative impact on sales..

Changes in the composition of the Heineken Holding N.V. Management Board

Heineken announced that in accordance with the wishes of Mr A. H. Heineken, who died on 3 January this year, the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V. has appointed Mr M. Das to succeed Mr A. H. Heineken as chairman of the Management Board of Hein-eken Holding N.V. Mr Heineken’s daughter, Mrs C. L. de Carvalho-Heineken has succeeded her father as delegate member. Mr K. Vuursteen, who retired as chairman of the Executive Board of Heineken N.V., has been appointed member of the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V. He succeeds Mr J.M. de Jong, who has been appointed member of the Supervisory Board of Heineken N.V. The composition of the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V. is as follows: M. Das, chairman, C. L. de Carvalho-Heineken, delegate member, D. P. Hoyer, K. Vuursteen.

Beck’s in a clear bottle

Miracles happen. And pigs can fly. Those who have for years listened to Beck’s technical staff wax lyrically over how to brew beer according to the German purity laws will probably rub their eyes in wonderment at the latest packaging innovation coming out of Bremen: Not in a green bottle but in a clear bottle will Beck’s Gold be sold to Germany’s on-trade. Needless to add that the beer is brewed in accordance with the purity law and is packaged in a clear glass bottle with an "integrated UV-filter".

We want more

Interbrew’s appetite in Germany is far from satiated. According to a company spokesman, there were opportunities for Interbrew to acquire more breweries in Germany. The bedding down of last year’s acquisitions of Diebels and Beck’s will require laying off 60 members of staff of a combined workforce of 1,800. Both breweries in Bremen (Beck’s) and Issum (Diebels) will remain operational. There is a question mark hanging over the future of Beck’s other brewery, the Rostock brewery, though. The new German division, called Interbrew Germany, will be headed by Beck’s former chief Dieter Ammer. The former Managing Director of Diebels, Dr Paul Bösken-Diebels, will step down, but Diebels family shareholders will retain a 20 per cent stake in Germany’s leading Alt beer brewer.

Mixed beer drinks succeed on German beer market

More than 2 million hl of mixed beer drinks were sold in Germany in 2001 according to the German Brewers’ Association in Bonn.
"Mixed beer drinks create new taste experiences based on beer without moving away from the traditions of German brewers because the beer is, naturarlly, still brewed in accordance with the Purity Law as it has been for almost 490 years", as stated in a press release by Erich Dederichs, press spokesman of the German Brewers’ Association.
More than 90% of beer mixes is shandies, i.e. beer with lemonade, and beer-cola mixes. Novel mixes such as beer with apple juice, beer with flavourings or other substances account for less than 10%.g. to the sale and consumption of beer"..

Deposit on cans as of 2003

As of January 1st, 2003, a deposit of up to €0.50 will go on cans and on disposable bottles for certain beverages. The German Federal Cabinet approved the draft of Jürgen Trittin, Federal Minister of the Environment from the Green Party, on March 20th, 2002. Throw-away packages for beer, mineral water and carbonated soft drinks will then carry an obligatory deposit of €0.25, this will be €0.5 for containers above 1.5 l. Non-returnable packages for wine and juices are being exempted from the regulation for the moment. Major chain stores plan to continue to oppose the measure; the beverage trade welcomed the move.