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Growth at drinks giant SABMiller picks up in Q4
LONDON (ShareCast) - Miller Lite, Peroni and Grolsch maker SABMiller (Xetra: BRW1.DE - news) impressed the market on Thursday with a strong finish to its financial year as robust growth in Africa and Latin America helped accelerate top-line momentum in the fourth quarter. The world's second-largest brewer, which additionally owns a portfolio of soft drinks brands, said Asia Pacific also returned to growth during the three months to 31 March as lager volumes in China pushed into positive territory.
Fourth-quarter net producer revenues (NPR) increased by 6%, ahead of analysts' forecasts, as a flat performance in Europe and a 1% decline in North America was outweighed by strong performances elsewhere.
NPR in Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific jumped 12%, 8% and 7% respectively, with growth rates picking up strongly from the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, group beverage volumes were up 4% in the fourth quarter with lager volumes rising 2%.
NPR and beverage volume growth in the third quarter was 4% and 0%, respectively.
For the full year, the company managed to deliver NPR growth of 4% and beverage volume growth of 1%.
"Our top-line performance was strong in the final quarter, driven by double-digit revenue growth in Africa and sustained growth in Latin America," said chief executive Alan Clark.
SABMiller also saw continued growth in soft drinks with volumes up 8% for the fourth quarter and the whole year, driven once again by Africa and Latin America.
Johnny Forsyth from market research firm Mintel praised SABMiller's increased exposure to the soft drinks market, as developed countries see a decline in alcohol consumption. At the same time, beer drinkers are seeking out craft breweries and smaller producers, he said.
"SAB Miller have really changed, they're a lot more into soft drinks than they were before," he said in an interview on CNBC. "It actually makes a lot of sense as a business to realign and not be so so dependent on alcoholic drinks." The stock was up 2% at 3,657.5p by 10:49.
