SMC’s beer unit expected to report P76B in ’12 sales

The brewing unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is set to report “strong” financial results for the full year of 2012 later this week on the back of higher beer sales, aided by the Philippines’ robust economic growth.

According to a company official, San Miguel Brewery Inc.’s total revenue last year hit P76 billion, representing an improvement of 5.7 percent over the beer unit’s sales of P71.9 billion in 2011.

“Income from operations is estimated at P22 billion, while net income rose by 20 percent to P14 billion,” said the official, requesting anonymity pending the release of the company’s financial report.

The company’s main sales driver is the 122-year-old San Miguel Pale Pilsen brand, which is sold both in the Philippines and overseas.

The official said that the company’s 2012 beer sales bode well for its performance in the first quarter of 2013, adding that sales going forward would continue to be driven by San Miguel Brewery’s “brand and distribution strength.”

SMC is scheduled to release the report on its 2012 financial performance on March 21, Thursday.

San Miguel Brewery is 51-percent owned by SMC while Japanese brewing giant Kirin owns slightly more than 48 percent of the company’s stock. Listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the brewer is in the process of reverting to being a privately-held company through a tender offer for shares held by public investors that runs until April 3, 2013.

Once concluded, the company will be stricken off the roster of shares listed on the PSE.

In preparation for this voluntary delisting, San Miguel Brewery offered to buy the holdings of minority shareholders at P20 per share. These minority investors hold about 94.24 million shares or 0.61 percent of the company’s outstanding shares.

The beer maker earlier said Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners had conducted the evaluation of the ended offer price and other terms and conditions, after which the investment bank opined that the tender offer price was fair at P20 each.

Shares of SMB were last traded on the PSE at P29.30 per share on Dec. 28 last year.

Both controlling shareholders—San Miguel Corp. and Kirin Holdings of Japan—as well as the directors of SMB would not sell any of their shares during the tender offer.

A tender offer—meant to give the minority shareholders a chance to exit the company before it goes back to private ownership—is among the requirements set by the PSE for voluntary delisting.