SMC’s international beer sales up 9%

San Miguel Corp., Southeast Asia’s largest food and beverage conglomerate, said international beer sales grew nine percent in the first eight months of the year, driven by robust sales in Indonesia and Australia.

Revenues from beer sales abroad rose to $181.7 million on the back of a 13-percent jump in sales volume.

San Miguel’s Indonesian subsidiary, PT Delta Djakarta Tbk, registered sales revenues of 347.5 billion rupiah, up 31 percent on strong demand for its top selling brand, Anker Bir. Sales volume improved by 24 percent.

J. Boag and Son Ltd., San Miguel’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia, posted a 13-percent increase in revenues to A$61.2 million on a 16-percent increase in volume.

San Miguel’s beer operations in Greater China, meanwhile, grew 13 percent in terms of volume from January to August on strong sales of its Dragon and Blue Star brands.

On the homefront, San Miguel posted sales of P139.9 billion during the period under review, driven by gains from across its major businesses. Operating income amounted to P9.92 billion.

Benefiting from volume gains and better selling prices, the San Miguel Food Group registered consolidated revenues of P39.98 billion, up four percent from the previous year.

San Miguel said the consolidation of newly acquired Australian dairy giant National Foods Limited beginning in June contributed P11 billion in revenue.

National Foods, Australia’s largest producer of fresh dairy products, is San Miguel’s biggest purchase to date and is part of a strategy to seek future growth abroad after dominating its home market for beer, soft drinks, liquor, poultry, dairy, and processed food.

San Miguel Packaging Products (SMPP) contributed P13.7 billion in revenues, 25 percent higher than the year ago level.

San Miguel commands more than 90 percent of the Philippine beer market and is one of Asia’s stop brands.

While streamlining operations to focus on core businesses, San Miguel has pursued an ambitious expansion program since Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco took over in 1998, spreading to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, China and, most recently, Australia.

In the past two years, San Miguel has bought five companies in four nearby countries. It paid $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd. and $35.5 million for food processor TTC (Vietnam) Co. in 2003. Last year it bought 51 percent of Berri Ltd. – Australia’s top juicemaker – for $97.9 million. In June this year, San Miguel purchased National Foods in line with its goal to hit $10 billion in revenues by 2007 – more than triple last year’s sales.

Last year, San Miguel posted a 10-percent growth in its 2004 net income to P8.08 billion on revenues of P174.7 billion, which is an increase of 18 percent from the previous year. The increase was primarily driven by the robust growth of its beer sales division.