Business Business News Kirin holds on to stake; San Mig to be delisted
Kirin holds on to stake; San Mig to be delisted
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- Published on Wednesday, 25 July 2012 00:00
- Written by MYLA IGLESIAS
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Diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will delist beer unit San Miguel Brewery Inc. after its partner Kirin Brewery refused to give up a portion of its 48 percent stake in the company.
The company has been ordered to sell to the public the mandatory 10 percent of its shares. Currently, only 0.6 percent of SMB shares are in public hands.
Ramon S. Ang, SMC president, said the company will pursue the delisting of SMB once it gets an order from the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Ang said SMC asked to combine the preferred and common shares as listed to comply with the 10 percent mandatory public float.
SMC partner Kirin Brewery owns 48 percent of San Miguel Brewery, the oldest brewery business in Southeast Asia with a 96 percent share of the local beer market.
The rule of a mandatory 10-percent minimum public float of a listed company was reintroduced in the middle of last year to improve market activity given that a higher public float will result in better market activity for that stock.
The company continues to expand its overseas market, eyeing the South Sudan market while studying the viability of putting up a brewery in either Cambodia, Myanmar or Laos.
Ang said a brewery would cost about $100 million with a potential to generate revenues of about $200 million to $300 million a year. The plan, however, remains on the feasibility study stage.
In the first quarter of the year, San Miguel Brewery’s consolidated revenues reached P18.3 billion, up 5 percent. Overseas volumes also improved 9 percent, led by numbers from Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand and with China showing much improvement.
However, the brewery’s operating income grew 5 percent to P5.3 billion owing to improvements in efficiency, management of fixed costs and significant improvements in international operations.
