14th Oct 2014 06:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - South African beer and soft drinks giant SABMiller PLC Tuesday sales in the second quarter were hit by lower lager volumes and and weaker trading in Australia and China, although it said total beverage volumes inched up in the first half as a whole, balanced by strong growth in soft drinks in Latin America and Africa.
The brewer of brands including Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch said total beverage volumes were down 1% in the second quarter, hit by weakness in Australia, softer demand in China, and poor summer peak weather in Europe, following some growth in the first quarter.
Although volume growth was hit by weaker lager volumes, SABMiller said strong growth in soft drinks helped offset this, as total beverage volumes grew by 1% for the first six months on an organic basis, driven by strong performance across both lager and soft drinks in Latin America and Africa.
"Financial performance has been affected by ongoing foreign currency movements as well as weaker second quarter trading conditions in China and Australia," said Chief Executive Alan Clark in a statement.
SABMiller said group net producer revenue grew by 3% and NPR per hectolitre grew by 4% in the second quarter, both on an organic, constant currency basis. For the first-half, NPR grew by 5% and NPR per hectolitre was up 3%.
"We achieved resilient net producer revenue growth in the first half, powered by our Africa and Latin America businesses," said Clark.
Organic growth rates excludes the impact of acquisitions and disposals.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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