28th Jul 2005 11:10
SABMiller PLC28 July 2005 Ref: 17/2005 SABMiller plc AGM Trading Statement London and Johannesburg, 28 July 2005. At the Annual General Meeting ofSABMiller plc (SABMiller) today, Graham Mackay, chief executive of SABMiller,commented on the group's overall performance for the three months ended 30 June2005. Mr Mackay said: "The group has achieved a good start to the financial year, withthe financial and volume performance for the first quarter to 30 June being inline with our expectations at the time of our preliminary results announcementin May of this year. All of our major businesses have contributed towards anincrease in adjusted earnings per share for this period when compared with theprior year. "In North America, Miller's US domestic sales to retailers (STRs) increased by1.0% over the prior year, reflecting the continued growth of the Miller Litebrand in a weak and competitive industry trading environment. Miller Liteperformance was partially offset by a net reduction in the volume of otherbrands but within these the Milwaukee's Best and High Life franchises achievedgrowth. "Total regional beverage volumes in Central America were in line with the prioryear. However, as expected, excise and competitive pressures continued to impactour beer business, with volumes lower than the prior year. "Our Europe business has produced good results with organic lager growth ofsome 6% across the division. Most of our European operations have seen volumeand share growth in the quarter led by Poland and driven primarily by marketingand sales initiatives. "The Africa & Asia business achieved organic growth in lager volume of some 15%,principally due to improved trading conditions in certain of our China regionsand in Tanzania and Mozambique. In Africa, our lager volumes grew, despite theBotswana currency devaluation, and the business continues to post volume growthin carbonated soft drinks. "In South Africa, beer volumes were in line with the prior year on a comparablebasis (adjusting for the transfer of management responsibility to the Africadivision for exports to Angola during 2004) despite poor trading conditions inApril, which were subsequently off-set by improved trading in May and June.April's volume performance was also impacted by the absence of an Easter period.Soft drinks volumes showed strong growth, rising by some 6% during the period." Ends Notes to editors: SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers, with 2004/05 lager volumesin excess of 148 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over 40countries across four continents and a portfolio of strong brands and leadingmarket shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations.Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Colaproducts in the world. In the year ended 31 March 2005, the group generated US$2,194 million pre-taxprofit from a turnover of US$14,543 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.vismedia.co.uk Enquiries: SABMiller plc Tel: +44 20 7659 0100 Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0174 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 disseminateany updates 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 price at which theCompany's securities have been bought or sold in the past, or on the yield onsuch securities, should not be relied upon as a guide to future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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