Delta’s Natbrew share trade sails through on LuSE

A TOTAL of 44,1 million National Breweries shares traded on the Lusaka Stock Exchange Tuesday signalling Delta Corporation’s purchase of about 70 percent of the Zambian brewer.

At the close of LuSE trading on Tuesday, total traded volume on the Main tier was 44 102 300 shares, of which Natbrew, a sorghum beer company, contributed 99 percent, trading 44 100 000 shares.

The shares were held by Heinrich’s Syndicate Limited a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, Delta’s majority shareholder.

Total trading turnover recorded on the LuSE was K123 483 312 (US$12 422 868). Natbrew contributed 99 percent to the total turnover. Natbrew has 63 million shares in issues

The LuSE ASI maintained the previous close of 5 311,54 points. Year-to-date, the LUSE ALSI is up 28,50 percent in local currency terms and up 29,41 percent in US$ terms.

On the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Delta dropped 5c to 145c. As previously reported Delta makes a significant profit from sorghum beer and because the Zambian sorghum beer market is bigger than Zimbabwe’s it is expected that the company will make a success of the transaction.

In the half year to September, Natbrew total volumes were 37 percent down on prior year due to the competitive pressure from affordable clear beer as well as the illegal bulk traditional beer and cheap spirits in the market; which all eroded market share across the categories.

Revenue declined by 28 percent compared to the same period last year driven largely by the volume decline. The 14 percent growth in volumes recorded on Chibuku super, helped to cushion the revenue decline. Price roll backs were taken on both products during the year to help improve the volumes and make the products more competitive.

The business made an operating loss of K4,41m for the period which was 72 percent up on prior year largely driven by the volume performance. The discontinuation of forex hedging and the appreciation of the kwacha against major currencies during the period helped to cushion the business from the adverse impact of foreign exchange losses with a gain of K1,1m compared to a loss of K12,63m in the same period last year. — FinX.