15_Laughing all the way to the bank - Brigl & Bergmeister

In thus doing AB-InBev have managed to raise both their sales and profit
margins.
It will be interesting to watch, now that we have entered the age of globality in
the brewing industry, how global brewers will live up to investors' expectations
and drive their margins up to new heights.
The jury is still out if there will be any more deals any time soon, despite
persistent rumours. A few scenarios have been widely speculated upon, both
extra-category (ie brewers tying up with other beverage producers, thus moving
beyond the realm of beer) or intra-category (brewers buying other brewers).
Even if global brewers decide to abstain from M&A activity for the time being
and reduce their debt load, they still seem to have plenty of opportunity to
squeeze out fixed and variable costs to deliver earnings and cash returns growth.
Let’s bear in mind that global growth for beer is estimated to be 2.8 percent per
annum between 2009 and 2015 according to Canadean market research.
International premium beers are expected to grow nearly three times as fast as
mainstream and economy brands globally. International premium brands
generate profits per unit often double that of non-premium.
Given that global brewers have only just started pushing their iconic brands into
their geographies, chances have almost certainly never been better for brewers to
keep their investors sweet and happy.
Isn’t that what brewing beer is all about?
Ina Verstl