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SABMiller Watched for Comment on Scottish & Newcastle Bid |
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
LONDON: Speculation that SABMiller PLC may be poised to enter the fray for Scottish & Newcastle PLC will come to the fore when the brewer unveils its first half results tomorrow.
The world's number two brewer with a focus on emerging markets has previously said it finds the mature Western European beer markets "singularly unattractive" but the draw of S&N's 50 percent stake in Russian market leader Baltic Beverages Holding could be tempting.
In a note to investors, Charles Stanley Stockbrokers said any comments on the subject will be closely scrutinized.
SABMiller last month said first half lager volumes grew 11 percent on an organic basis, driven by strong performances particularly in Africa and Asia. While it said its financial performance for the six months remained in line with management expectations, it added revenue growth has been partially offset by higher input costs and increased investment across the business.
Also in focus will be the improving fortunes of the group's US arm Miller Brewing, which is set to merge with Molson Coors' US arm in 2008. For the six months to the end of September, Miller sales to retailers increased 1.4 percent with flagship brand Miller Lite up 2.1 percent.
Charles Stanley is forecasting a 10.7 percent increase in North America EBIT to 280 million usd. It described the US merger as a sensible defensive move. It will give the new venture MillerCoors a market share of around 30 percent against market-leader Anheuser-Busch's 50 percent share. The deal is expected to generate some 500 million usd in annual cost synergies to be delivered in the third full year of combined operations.
Charles Stanley is expecting pretax profit for the six months of 1.616 billion usd, up from 1.378 billion last year.
Copyright 2007 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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