San Miguel boosts turnover and final dividend after cutting costs

SAN Miguel Brewery Hong Kong has reported attributable profit of HK$165.908 million for the year to December.

This was down on the previous year, which was buoyed by a one-off profit from sale of a site.

Turnover rose to $1.268 billion, up 3.6 per cent, from the previous year's $1.223 billion, the brewer told the Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share were 44 cents, well down on the previous year's figure of $8.12 per share.

In the earlier period, the company netted a one-off profit from the sale of its Sham Tseng brewery site.

However, the company said it was paying a larger final dividend of four cents a share, up from one cent a share 12 months earlier.

No special dividend will be paid this year. San Miguel paid shareholders a special dividend of 1.5 cents a share in the earlier period, when the company's profit surged almost 100-fold on the back of the Sham Tseng transaction.

In 1994, the company, which planned a new brewery, sold its Hong Kong brewery to Wheelock & Co for HK$3.5 billion for redevelopment of the site.

The company last July moved to cut costs and announced that it was sacking 96 employees, or 15 per cent of its workers.

This reflected tough competition in the local beer market and 'operating efficiencies' within San Miguel Brewery.

San Miguel, the Philippines' largest conglomerate and a major presence in Asia's brewing market, makes and distributes bottled, canned and draught beer.

Its brands include San Miguel, Lowenbrau, Kirin, Guang's and other beers. It also makes plastic crates, crowns and animal feeds.

Last year its parent, San Miguel Corp, was ranked the 19th largest food and beverage company in Asia.

Last year the parent accounted for about 4 per cent of Philippine gross national product and 6 per cent of its taxes.

One analyst said she was interested in the company but did not cover it any more because of lack of access to the company's Hong Kong arm.

'It's very hard to get a visit with the company, and we've been trying for a long, long while. It's difficult to cover it,' she said.