News briefs: Pernod, Tata and Efes Breweries
expectations, Tata Tea is brewing expansion plans for entering
retail, and Efes brewery posts sales volume growth.
Brands boost Pernod Ricard's profits Pernod Ricard posted a 5.9 per cent improvement in sales during the first half of the year amounting to €3.7bn as its core brands continued to perform strongly. Group chairman Patrick Ricard said that the performance of the group's brands for the six month period ending 31 December has allowed the company to lift its full year operating profit outlook by two percentage points to 12 per cent. The company said that an expanded presence in emerging markets had been central to driving the growth, with nearly two thirds of sales increases over the period coming from these markets. On a regional basis, Europe remained the Pernod Ricard's key market, which, when combined with the company's French operations, accounted for €1.6bn of total sales. Sales in Asia were up by 13 per cent on an organic basis to about €1bn, with the Americas region posting 10 per cent organic increase to €970m, according to the group. Tata says hello to retailing Leading global tea group Tata Tea has entered in the Indian beverage retail market to further push its profitability, according to press reports. The group, which is an established manufacturer of branded teas and extracts, hopes to dominate the country's beverage retail industry, currently estimated to be worth INR480bn (€8bn), according to the Reuters news agency. At the launch of the group's first store this week, group executive director Sangeeta Talwar said that the venture would allow the group to expand beyond the home beverage market, according to the report. Future expansion plans for the chain were not revealed, the report added. Efes posts half-year volume gains Efes Breweries International, the fourth largest beer group in the burgeoning Russian market, says that sales volumes in 2007 rose by 13.8 per cent over the previous twelve month period. In the Russian market alone, sales volumes improved for the year by 20.1 per cent to 10.4m hectolitres, due to the performance of the groups five breweries and four malt houses. Growth was also recorded for the company in its Kazakhstan-based operations, with sales volumes up by 45.8 per cent over the previous year to 1.3m hectolitres. Efes added that the improved volumes resulted in a 6.4 percentage point increase in market share to 25.1 per cent. Moldova was another important market for the group, where it accounts for 71.5 per cent of the market according to market research group MEMRB. Efes' volume sales within the market also rose by 14 per cent after the company sold off its soft drinks brands like Viva and Real to The Coca-Cola Company for an improved focus on beer. The year was not without it difficulties for the company though, sales volumes in Serbia declined by 5.1 per cent over the previous year to 0.5m hectolitres. The group says it operates two breweries in the country with a combined output capacity of 1.4m hectolitres.
