Interbrew explores options

Interbrew announced that it was in talks with Union Breweries, the second largest brewer in Slovenia, in order to explore a partnership. According to the Barth Report, Slovenian breweries produced 2.5 million hl of beer in 2000.

Triple blow

The UK’s tourist industry expects that the terrorist atrocities in the US will cost it £1 billion in the final quarter this year. This latest blow will have a deeper effect than even the foot&mouth crisis earlier in the year and the economic slowdown. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of overseas visitors to the UK fell 6% to 16.4 million between January and August. The amount of money spent dropped 10% to £7.8 billion during the first eight months.
Already a war of beliefs is raging in the City of London as to the effects of the economic slowdown on alcohol consumption. While many argue that the pub trade is recession-proof, dissident voices can be heard too that UK-based brewers may not be the safe haven investors are looking.0%, wine by 8..

Interbrew to sell Carling Brewers

Interbrew’s year-long wrangling with the UK’s competition authorities has given the brewing world a taste of things to come. The bigger the deals, the longer it will take to get over the competition hurdles. In any case, the UK Secretary of State, Patricia Hewitt, on 18 September finally announced her decision on Interbrew’s "British File".
This left Interbrew with two options: either sell Bass Brewers altogether. The buyer would have to be approved by the
Director General. Or sell Carling Brewers to a buyer also approved by the Director General. Together with the former Whitbread brands, Stella Artois and Boddington’s but excluding the licensed Heineken volumes, this would leave Interbrew with a market share of 15.8%. These brands represent a UK market share of 19%..

Only talking

Scottish&Newcastle, the UK’s major brewer, seems to be in talks with Miller Brewing Company, the US’s second largest brewer, about a series of possible ventures in Europe. S&N already has a distribution contract with Miller for Britain and Ireland and would like to take Miller further into Spain, Italy and Germany. Interesting, is all we say. At present, Miller is distributed in Germany by Miller Brands, a company owned by Germany’s no 1 brewer Warsteiner. And Grolsch of the Netherlands has only recently signed a contract with Miller for France and the Netherlands, despite the fact that S&N owns France’s Kronenbourg. Moreover, in Italy, Kronenbourg is with Birra Peroni which also brews and markets Bud. Another instance of the brewing industry’s promiscuity?

Punch to go public next year

Despite a gloomy outlook for the alcohol sector and financial markets being in turmoil, the UK’s giant pub group, Punch, plans to go public next year. Punch controls 5,100 pubs. Its chairman and founder of the group, Hugh Osmond, bought the Allied Domecq pubs two years ago and has since built an empire of 4,100 tenanted and leased pubs and 1,000 managed pubs. To prepare for the float, Osmond has split the company into two divisions - the tenanted pubs division and the managed pubs division.

What’s in a name

The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association, formerly known as the Brewers Society, has unveiled yet another new name and logo. It is to be called the British Beer & Pub Association. This is the second time in seven years that it has changed its name. Before 1994 the association was called the Brewers’ Society. The name change was explained with reference to the altered landscape in the UK brewing industry. With the name change also comes a change in location. The British Beer & Pub Association has moved its offices from Portland Square in the West End of London to Vauxhall in South London.

Coffee to go at McDonald’s

The fast food giant McDonald’s is planning to sell its UK coffee bar chain "Aroma", set up 10 years ago. Big Mac bought the chain just two years ago for £10 million. The business then consisted of 23 outlets, had annual sales of £10 million and a staff of 300. The number of outlets has since risen to 35. The asking price is £15 million. The sale marks the departure of McDonald’s from Britain’s fast-growing coffee bar sector. Apparently the sector had become too crowded even for the likes of McDonald’s. However, in the US, the Big Mac is keen to develop its coffee shop concept, "McCafe", further.

Interbrew divests its stake in Krym Brewery

Interbrew reached an agreement with Donetsk Brewery about the sale of its 83.98% stake in the Krym Brewery as demanded by the Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee. The forced disposal of Interbrew’s stake in the Krym Brewery follows its acquisition of the Rogan Brewery in December 2000. After the divestment of Krym, Interbrew will still be the market leader with a share of 30% explained Alan Hibbert, Financial Director of Sun Interbrew, at a conference in Moscow. In the Russian market Sun Interbrew now ranks second with a market share of 14.1%. Sun Interbrew has eight breweries in Russia and four in the Ukraine. During the second quarter this year Sun Interbrew sold 3.9 million hl of beer, 34% more than it sold during the same period of last year.

Better safe than sorry

For the first half of 2001, Heineken’s net profit from ordinary activities rose 20% from €249 million to €298 million. Net turnover increased 14% or €556 million from €3,893 million in the first half of 2000 to €4,449 million in this first half of 2001. This increase was mainly driven by the consolidation of earnings from Nigerian breweries. Group volume reached 37.2 million hl of beer, 8% higher than in the corresponding period in 2000.
In the countries where the Heineken brand is positioned in the premium segment the sales volume was 10% higher. The US, Spain, France, Thailand and Italy accounted for most of this growth. Global sales of the Heineken brand rose 5% to just over 11 million hl.
For the whole of 2001 Heineken had expected net profit growth of at least 15%..

Kalnapilis is sold to Bryggerigruppen

Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) plans to sell its 87% share of the Lithuanian brewery Kalnapilis to the Danish group Bryggerigruppen at a price of LTL 135.1 million (€37 million). The sale is in compliance with an Lithuanian competition authorities’ ruling which demanded that prior to the establishing of Carlsberg Breweries one of the three breweries owned by BBH and Carlsberg Breweries was sold. The sale is subject to approval by the authorities.
After the sale of Kalnapilis, the brewer Alus Svyturys, owned by Carlsberg Breweries, will be merged with Utenos Alus, owned by BBH. The Lithuanian competition authorities must also approve of this merger, which is expected to come in effect early next year. The new company will be named AB Svyturio-Utenos Alus. Tomas Kucinskas will be CEO..