Dive Brief:
- SABMiller said sales volume in the most recent quarter fell 1%, hurt by an 8% drop in sales in the Asia-Pacific region.
- The world's second-largest brewer blamed currency fluctuations and poor weather in China for the disappointing performance.
- One bright spot in the report was North America, where revenue rose 2%, largely on sales of high-end beers such as Leinenkugel’s.
Dive Insight:
One of the more interesting items of note in SABMIller's news is that the company did quite well in Latin America, where volume rose 5%, and Africa, where revenue grew 8% in the most-recent quarter and 10% in the first half.
In fact, with the exception of Africa and Latin America, which have been consistently strong, the second quarter was essentially the opposite of the first quarter. All of which would suggest that SABMiller is very disappointed that it failed in its attempt to acquire Heineken, which seems to be doing quite well in Asia and Europe.