C12 Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

Craft beer gives big brewers competition

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 17-Feb-15

Australians’ enthusiasm for craft beer continues to grow. Big breweries, such as Lion and CUB, are trying to retain market share by offering attractive incentives to pubs. Their behaviour is being monitored by the Australia Competition & Consumer Commission. Great Northern Hotel owner Alistair Carragher prefers not to be restricted in his choice of beers. He believes that craft beers offer a point of difference for his business

CORPORATES
FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED, CARLTON UNITED BREWERS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COOPERS BREWERY LIMITED, SABMILLER PLC, LION PTY LTD, KIRIN HOLDINGS COMPANY LIMITED

Beer sales push NSW to top spot

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 3-Feb-15

Some 26.3 per cent of Coopers Brewery’s sales were generated in New South Wales (NSW) during the first seven months of 2014-15. South Australia (SA) accounted for 24.8 per cent of the Adelaide-based brewery’s sales. MD Tim Cooper expects NSW to maintain its position as the group’s top-selling market, citing factors such as the state’s bigger population and the lower population growth in SA. The family-owned firm boasts a five per cent share of the national beer market

CORPORATES
COOPERS BREWERY LIMITED, LION PTY LTD, ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED, GRANT BURGE WINES PTY LTD, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, CASTLE HARLAN AUSTRALIAN MEZZANINE PARTNERS PTY LTD, BURGE AND RATHBONE FINE WINE MERCHANTS PTY LTD

Sanitarium ups and goes to UK market

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 30-Jan-15

Australian food company Sanitarium hopes to capitalise on growth opportunities in the British liquid breakfast market. The group will sell its Up&Go product in UK supermarkets via a joint venture company called Life Health Foods UK. Up&Go’s share of Australia’s liquid breakfast market exceeds 90 per cent, and Sanitarium aims to gain more than 60 per cent of the UK market. Up&Go will compete with the rival product of UK-based Weetabix

CORPORATES
SANITARIUM HEALTH FOOD COMPANY, WEETABIX LIMITED, LIFE HEALTH FOODS UK, WINGATE ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BRIGHT FOOD GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH, TESCO PLC, KELLOGG (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, NESTLE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Beer excise puts brewers over a barrel

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Original article by Andrew Main
The Australian – Page: 15 : 15-Jan-15

Tim ­Cooper, CEO of family-owned South Australian company Coopers Brewery, has criticised the biannual excise indexation for beer. The tax now accounts for $A15 of the price of a carton of beer, and Cooper argues that this has contributed to a decline in consumer demand in the sector of 8.4% between 2008 and 2014. However Coopers has managed to lift sales to 77.3 million litres in 2014, up 7% year-on-year, and to boost its market share to 5%. The core Original Pale Ale product is supplemented by overseas labels brewed under licence, such as Sapporo and Carlsberg

CORPORATES
COOPERS BREWERY LIMITED, SAPPORO HOLDINGS LIMITED, CARLSBERG A/S, KRONENBOURG, LION PTY LTD, KIRIN HOLDINGS COMPANY LIMITED, SABMILLER PLC

CCA sheds 260 jobs to help cut costs by $100m

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 &20 : 9-Dec-14

Australia-listed Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) has advised that its EBIT for the second half of 2014 will be higher than the first-half result of $A316.7m. The group’s underlying EBIT for calendar 2013 was $A833m. Meanwhile, CCA will retrench 260 employees in the finance, human resources and IT departments in 2015 as it seeks to achieve further cost savings. CEO Alison Watkins notes that sales of its new products are performing well

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, PEATS RIDGE WATER PTY LTD, BARISTA BROS

‘Flaw’ in corporate law could hit M&A

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Original article by Rick Wallace
The Australian – Page: 21 : 18-Nov-14

Japanese brewing group Asahi has revealed the size of its settlement deal with private equity firms Pacific Equity Partners and Unitas. It will receive $NZ220m ($A200), after claiming it had been misled over the acquisition for $A1.2bn in 2011 of the Independent Liquor business. Legal experts argue the case shows that large corporations are abusing section 18 of the Trade Practices Act, which is designed to protect small retail investors who lack the resources to carry out due diligence. The size of the compromise deal may have a dampening effect on mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia

CORPORATES
ASAHI BREWERIES LIMITED, THE INDEPENDENT LIQUOR GROUP CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, UNITAS CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, MINTER ELLISON, SCHWEPPES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, P & N BEVERAGES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Call to ban lolly-flavoured e-cigs

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Age – Page: 13 : 14-Nov-14

Joystick Company MD Alexander McDonell says the nicotine-free and sweets-flavoured electronic cigarettes the business distributes are not harmful. Kylie Lindorff, tobacco control policy manager at Quit Victoria, notes that their sale is completely unregulated in the state despite the tobacco variants being banned Australia-wide. The "lolly e-cigs" used for "vaping" have not been tested by food regulators, and contain vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol

CORPORATES
THE JOYSTICK COMPANY PTY LTD, QUIT VICTORIA

CCA soars as Coke takes stake in Indo

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 31-Oct-14

The Coca-Cola Company will pay $US500m ($A563m) for a 29.4 per cent stake in the Indonesian subsidiary of Australian-listed Coca-Cola Amatil. The deal prompted a rally in CCA shares, which peaked at $A9.25, although some analysts believe that the group should have sought a higher price for the stake. Meanwhile, CCA anticipates that it will achieve earnings growth in 2015

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

Treasury’s premium clear out of Penfolds Grange

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 30-Oct-14

Treasury Wine Estates MD Mike Clarke refutes claims that the company is providing retailers with discounts on its flagship Penfolds Grange. Some liquor store operators say they have been offered a rebate on the 2009 vintage of up to 30 per cent. Clarke says Treasury has increased its marketing support for retailers after the group opted to release the 2009 and 2010 vintages in the same calendar year

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAN MURPHY’S

That’s Life: jobs to go at CCA

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Oct-14

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) will shortly unveil the results of its strategic review, which was undertaken in response to an earnings downgrade earlier in 2014. The review is expected to result in job cuts, the abolition of some products and brands, and a reduction in capital expenditure. CCA is also believed to be planning to launch the low-calorie Coke Life soft drink, and may consider selling a stake in its Indonesian business to the Coca-Cola Company

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MOUNT FRANKLIN NATURAL, FRANTELLE, BEAM GLOBAL SPIRITS AND WINE INCORPORATED, GRUPO MODELO SA DE CV, HEINEKEN NV, SUNTORY LIMITED