To gain competition authority approval for the proposed merger of the soft-drink businesses of SABMiller (SAB)‚ The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments‚ the parties have committed themselves to investing R800-million in developing entrepreneurs.
Competition Tribunal hearings on the proposed merger that will create Coca-Cola Beverages SA (CCBSA) are scheduled to start on Monday.
The parties in yesterday’s statement undertook to maintain employee levels at pre-merger levels for three years.
The parties have also agreed that employees in the bargaining unit will not be subjected to involuntary retrenchment as a result of the merger and that retrenchments of senior management staff be limited.
SABMiller said yesterday that the agreed public interest conditions for the merger included creating a R400-million fund for enterprise development in the agriculture value chain.
Another R400-million has been committed to develop downstream distribution and retail capabilities with associated skills development and training. This is expected to create an additional 20000 black-owned retailers.
Coca-Cola Beverages SA committed itself to keeping its headquarters in SA.
It also agreed to be 20% empowerment owned. It will maintain and grow Appletiser’s South African production operations “to serve the domestic market and as a base from which to export Appletiser to the rest of the continent and elsewhere in the world”.
Other commitments include allowing small retail outlets (smaller than 20m²) to be free to provide 10% of visible space in their Coca-Cola fridges to smaller competitor products.
Anheuser-Busch InBev‚ the world’s biggest brewer, in the process of acquiring SABMiller‚ missed earnings estimates for the first quarter‚ hit by currency fluctuations and lower sales volumes in Brazil – its biggest market.
Revenue fell 10% from a year earlier‚ to $9.4-billion (R139-billion) from $10.453-billion. Normalised profit attributable to equity holders fell to $844-million (R12.5-billion) from $2.294-billion‚ and AB InBev said organic earnings growth was “more than offset” by high finance charges and currency effects. It said normalised earnings per share before currency translation‚ mark-to-market and pre-funding of the SABMiller deal were stable‚ at $0.93 (R13.8) from $0.94 a year earlier.
The brewer incurred a net finance cost of $1.219-billion (R18.03-billion) in the quarter‚ from a net finance income of $91-million a year earlier.
The main reasons were a $273-million increase in interest costs related to prefinancing for the SABMiller purchase‚ and “an unfavourable mark-to-market adjustment of $138-million linked to the hedging of share-based payment programmes”.
The poor performance in Brazil – where sales volumes fell 10% from a year earlier as the effects of tough economic conditions were felt – was expected‚ and the company kept its guidance for full-year revenue growth in the country in the mid to high single digits.
It also said it still expected overall organic revenue per hectolitre to grow faster than inflation for the full year.
Total global volumes for the quarter were 107363 hectolitres‚ down from 104868 a year earlier‚ a fall of about 2%.
AB InBev said the SABMiller acquisition was on track to close in the second half of the year. It has recently announced asset sales to head off regulatory challenges to the deal.
Last week it offered to sell all of SABMiller’s central and eastern European assets. That was in addition to the sale of the Peroni‚ Grolsch and Meantime brands to Japan’s Asahi.
In China‚ SABMiller is selling its 49% stake in CR Snow to joint-venture partner China Resources Beer. — BDLive
Soft-drink merger sweetener
Competition Tribunal hearings on the proposed merger that will create Coca-Cola Beverages SA (CCBSA) are scheduled to start on Monday.
The parties in yesterday’s statement undertook to maintain employee levels at pre-merger levels for three years.
The parties have also agreed that employees in the bargaining unit will not be subjected to involuntary retrenchment as a result of the merger and that retrenchments of senior management staff be limited.
SABMiller said yesterday that the agreed public interest conditions for the merger included creating a R400-million fund for enterprise development in the agriculture value chain.
Another R400-million has been committed to develop downstream distribution and retail capabilities with associated skills development and training. This is expected to create an additional 20000 black-owned retailers.
Coca-Cola Beverages SA committed itself to keeping its headquarters in SA.
It also agreed to be 20% empowerment owned. It will maintain and grow Appletiser’s South African production operations “to serve the domestic market and as a base from which to export Appletiser to the rest of the continent and elsewhere in the world”.
Other commitments include allowing small retail outlets (smaller than 20m²) to be free to provide 10% of visible space in their Coca-Cola fridges to smaller competitor products.
Anheuser-Busch InBev‚ the world’s biggest brewer, in the process of acquiring SABMiller‚ missed earnings estimates for the first quarter‚ hit by currency fluctuations and lower sales volumes in Brazil – its biggest market.
Revenue fell 10% from a year earlier‚ to $9.4-billion (R139-billion) from $10.453-billion. Normalised profit attributable to equity holders fell to $844-million (R12.5-billion) from $2.294-billion‚ and AB InBev said organic earnings growth was “more than offset” by high finance charges and currency effects. It said normalised earnings per share before currency translation‚ mark-to-market and pre-funding of the SABMiller deal were stable‚ at $0.93 (R13.8) from $0.94 a year earlier.
The brewer incurred a net finance cost of $1.219-billion (R18.03-billion) in the quarter‚ from a net finance income of $91-million a year earlier.
The main reasons were a $273-million increase in interest costs related to prefinancing for the SABMiller purchase‚ and “an unfavourable mark-to-market adjustment of $138-million linked to the hedging of share-based payment programmes”.
The poor performance in Brazil – where sales volumes fell 10% from a year earlier as the effects of tough economic conditions were felt – was expected‚ and the company kept its guidance for full-year revenue growth in the country in the mid to high single digits.
It also said it still expected overall organic revenue per hectolitre to grow faster than inflation for the full year.
Total global volumes for the quarter were 107363 hectolitres‚ down from 104868 a year earlier‚ a fall of about 2%.
AB InBev said the SABMiller acquisition was on track to close in the second half of the year. It has recently announced asset sales to head off regulatory challenges to the deal.
Last week it offered to sell all of SABMiller’s central and eastern European assets. That was in addition to the sale of the Peroni‚ Grolsch and Meantime brands to Japan’s Asahi.
In China‚ SABMiller is selling its 49% stake in CR Snow to joint-venture partner China Resources Beer. — BDLive
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