31st Jul 2007 11:05
SABMiller PLC31 July 2007 31 July 2007 SABMiller plc Interim Management Statement At the Annual General Meeting of SABMiller plc (SABMiller) today, Graham Mackay,chief executive of SABMiller, commented on the group's performance for the threemonths ended 30 June 2007. The calculation of the organic growth rates includedbelow excludes volumes for acquired businesses for the first 12 months after anacquisition. Mr Mackay said: "The group has made a strong start to the year, recording 17%growth in lager volumes, with organic growth of 13%, and achieved a goodfinancial performance in the first quarter, in which revenue growth waspartially offset by higher input costs and increased investment across thebusiness. "In Latin America, lager volumes for the quarter rose by 12%. Strong volumeperformances in Colombia and Peru reflect continuing favourable economicconditions and the ongoing impact of our initiatives to rejuvenate the beercategory. These initiatives include the introduction of new containers andbrands and increased investment in marketing as well as in merchandising. InColombia, our biggest brand, Aguila, has been relaunched successfully in thequarter and we are restructuring our route to market. In Peru, volumes of ourleading brand, Cristal, remain strong following the recent packaging changes andhave led to continuing share gains. "Our Europe business once again performed strongly, with volume growth of 17%and share gains in most markets. April and May sales were particularly strong,assisted by warm weather across the region, although June experienced wetterweather resulting in lower volume growth in the month. Poland achieved growth of20% across the portfolio, notwithstanding challenging comparatives whichincluded the benefits of the soccer World Cup. Volumes in Russia were also up by20% led by Zolotaya Bochka, MGD and Redds, although this strong growth isleading to some capacity constraints. Romania grew by 52%, driven by ourTimisoreana brand and the success of its new PET packaging, and benefiting fromincreased capacity introduced in the first half of the prior year. CzechRepublic achieved domestic growth in volumes of 10%, led by our Gambrinus andKozel brands. In Italy, branded domestic volume increased by 3%. "In North America, Miller's US domestic sales to retailers (STRs) increased by4.6% compared to the prior year, but were down 0.7% on an organic basis (excluding Sparks and Steel Reserve, acquired in August 2006) as Miller drovehigher pricing across its portfolio. Miller Lite brand volumes were level withthe prior year and STRs of the worthmore portfolio, including Sparks, were up63%. As Miller continues to migrate its brand portfolio to higher growthworthmore brands, the Peroni, Leinenkugel's and Sparks brands all delivereddouble digit volume growth. Early in its national rollout, Miller Chilldelivered strong volume growth well ahead of target. "The Africa & Asia business achieved organic growth of 23% in lager volumes,with China continuing to record strong growth. In Africa (excluding Zimbabwe),lager volumes grew by 5% on an organic basis, with a good start to the year inTanzania and Mozambique and growth in Botswana after two difficult years. "In South Africa, our lager volumes were up 4%. This performance reflects growthacross all of our brands, with good growth in the mainstream segment and thesuccessful launch of our premium brand, Hanza Marzen Gold, in early May. Softdrink volumes grew by 13% reflecting the favourable weather conditionsprevailing in April and May, and ongoing trade restocking following some carbondioxide shortages at the end of the prior year. "Our South African holding company has recently raised R1,600 million(approximately US$230 million) in 5-year notes. The notes, issued under a R4,000million Domestic Medium Term Note Programme, are guaranteed by SABMiller plc andare listed on BESA, the South African Bond Exchange. The net proceeds of thebond issue have been used to repay part of existing loan facilities that wereutilised by The South African Breweries Ltd" Ends Notes to editors: SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers with brewing interests ordistribution agreements in over 60 countries across six continents. The group'sbrands include premium international beers such as Miller Genuine Draft, PeroniNastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell, as well as an exceptional range of marketleading local brands. Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is also one of the largestbottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world. In the year ended 31 March 2007, the group reported US$3,154 million in adjustedpre-tax profit and revenue of $18,620 million. SABMiller plc is listed on theLondon and Johannesburg stock exchanges. This announcement is available on the company website: www.sabmiller.com High resolution images are available for the media to view and download free ofcharge from: www.newscast.co.uk or www.sabmiller.com Enquiries: SABMiller plc Tel: +44 20 7659 0100 Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Senior Vice President, Tel: +44 20 7659 0119 Investor Relations Nigel Fairbrass Head of Media Relations Tel: +44 7799 894265 This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or thesolicitation of an offer to buy or acquire securities of SABMiller plc (the"Company") or any of its affiliates in any jurisdiction or an inducement toenter into investment activity. This document includes "forward-looking statements". These statements maycontain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect" andwords of similar meaning. All statements other than statements of historicalfacts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, thoseregarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, plans andobjectives of management for future operations (including development plans andobjectives relating to the Company's products and services) are forward-lookingstatements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results,performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different fromfuture results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by suchforward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based onnumerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future businessstrategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future.These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement.The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate anyupdates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in thisannouncement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regardthereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any suchstatement is based. Any information contained in this announcement on the priceat which the Company's securities have been bought or sold in the past, or onthe yield on such securities, should not be relied upon as a guide to futureperformance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
SAB.L