SABMiller share price jumps on growth in revenue

SABMiller Plc (LON:SAB) performed strongly in the fourth quarter of its financial year, the company has revealed. In a trading update for the year ended March 31, the world’s second-largest brewing company said that its net producer revenue (NPR) had grown six percent in the final quarter while lager volumes increased by two percent. The increase in lager volume was higher than the 0.4-percent average forecast of seven analysts polled by Bloomberg.

SABMiller’s chief executive officer Alan Clark commented: “Our topline performance was strong in the final quarter, driven by double digit revenue growth in Africa and sustained growth in Latin America. Asia Pacific also returned to growth during the last three months of the year as lager volumes in China returned to growth.”
For the full year, SABMiller’s NPR rose four percent, while total beverage volume increased one percent, with soft drinks volume up eight percent and lager volume in line with the previous year.
Latin America, SABMiller’s largest market, saw a full-year NPR growth of seven percent and a three-percent rise in beverage volume. In Africa, the company’s NPR rose nine percent for the year, benefitting from beverage volume growth of five percent. The company noted that“selective pricing and continued premiumisation in lager” also bolstered revenue growth,
Having experienced a slowdown in the Asia Pacific region for the better part of a year, SABMiller saw an improvement in the fourth quarter, driven by a rebound of sales in China, where lager volumes returned to growth. The brewer said that its full-year NPR from the region increased one percent, despite a two-percent decline in beverage volume.
In today’s trading, SABMiller shares were up 1.9 percent at 3,651.50p, as of 08:21 BST. The stock has risen 8.7 percent since the start of the year, boosting the company’s market capitalisation to £58.8 billion.
As of 10:29 BST, Thursday, 16 April, SABMiller plc share price is 3,659.50p.