SABMiller's impressive international footprint leaves it well positioned to capitalise on the world's growing thirst for lager - organic volumes climbed 4 per cent last year, and even in the troubled Eurozone, lager volumes held relatively steady, down just 1 per cent. That kind of resilience is attractive, but questions still hang over the business case for the acquisition of Fosters in Australia.
Completed in December, the deal meant reported trading profits in Asia Pacific more than trebled to $321m (£204m) and SAB also said it was making good progress towards generating annual cost savings of AUD$180m (£112m) by 2015. But organic lager volumes in Australia slipped 4 per cent in the face of weak consumer confidence and SAB has since lost contracts to brew imported brands that accounted for 10 per cent of volumes.
European trading profits also slipped sharply, down 9 per cent to $836m, as trading down in Eastern European markets such as Poland and Romania meant that significant increases in raw material costs couldn't be fully recovered. That was offset by a buoyant Latin America, which saw organic trading profit climb 14 per cent to $1.9bn on strong volume and price growth.
Broker Investec Securities expects underlying pre-tax profit of $5.3m for 2013, giving EPS of 246¢ (2012: $5.1bn/215¢).
SABMILLER (SAB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 2,382p | MARKET VALUE: | £37.9bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,381-2,382p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,689p | LOW: 1,858p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.4% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 1,575¢* | NET DEBT: | 69% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 21.4 | 3.26 | 135 | 58.0 |
| 2009 | 18.7 | 2.96 | 125 | 58.0 |
| 2010 | 18.0 | 2.93 | 123 | 68.0 |
| 2011 | 19.4 | 3.63 | 153 | 81.0 |
| 2012 | 21.8 | 5.60 | 267 | 91.0 |
| % change | +12 | +54 | +75 | +12 |
Ex-div:08 Aug Payment:17 Aug *Includes intangible assets of $30.0bn or 1,886¢ a share £1=$1.57 | ||||
