The share price of SABMiller plc, one of the world’s largest brewers, has reacted positively to the group’s trading update, gaining 1,45% or R1,35 in early trade on Tuesday on the back of evidence of continued strong growth in the brewer’s beer volumes.
At 10.30am, SABMiller was quoted on the JSE Securities Exchange at R97,65, up from R96,30 at Monday’s close, with 226Â 315 shares having changed hands in 117 trades.
The London- and Johannesburg-listed brewer saw strong volume growth for the third quarter to the end of December 2004, with beer volumes up 5% overall.
Contributing to the good performance were South African beer volumes, which grew by 4% over the quarter and were 4% up for the nine months to the end of December, thanks to ongoing healthy consumer spending and good weather conditions.
At the same time, the group’s key United States operations were able to report an increase in market share for its Miller brand despite a 0,3% year-on-year (y/y) decline in domestic sales to retailers for the quarter in what has been a generally weak trading period for the local industry.
Miller Lite, the brand having demonstrated the strongest growth in the US for SABMiller, had continued to grow in line with the group’s expectations — at 1,5% y/y — despite a high comparable base in the year-earlier period.
A robust performance in Europe also helped to boost the group’s sales volumes, with overall organic lager growth at 6% for the third quarter and 5% for the nine months to the end of December.
Ongoing strong performances from Poland, Russia and Romania had more than offset weakness in Italy, Hungary and Slovakia, the company revealed.
Meanwhile, SABMiller’s African and Asian operations were able to maintain the previous growth rate in organic lager volumes in the most recent quarter, coming in at a strong 10% for the year to date.
The one weak area for the company remained its carbonated soft-drink sales in Central America, which were down 8% for the third quarter and 6% lower for the year to date, reflecting tough market conditions in El Salvador, where competition has been fierce.
For the year ended March 31 2004, the group generated $1,391-billion (R8,47-billion) pre-tax profit from a turnover of $12,645-billion (R76,9-billion). — I-Net Bridge