Japan: New brand boosts Kirin 1st quarter profits

Kirin Brewery Co., Japan's biggest seller of beverages, said profit grew for the first quarter in a year, aided by the introduction of its first major new brand of beer in 17 years, Bloomberg reported May 1.

Net income rose 2.3 percent to 6.5 billion yen ($54 million), or 6.82 yen a share, in the three months ended March 31 from 6.4 billion yen, or 6.66 yen, a year earlier, the company said today. Lifted by the introduction of Kirin The Gold beer on March 20, sales gained 8 percent to 378 billion yen.

The debut of Kirin The Gold, which coincides with Kirin's 100th anniversary, is part of the Tokyo-based company's push to attract younger beer drinkers in their 20s and 30s. Sales of the new beer exceeded forecasts, putting Kirin on target to sell 8 million cases in the first year, the company said. Overall, beer sales rose 5.6 in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

For the full year, Kirin reiterated that it expects net income to rise 2.8 percent to 55 billion yen on a 13 percent gain in sales to 1.88 trillion yen.

To boost sales, the company is building a factory in China and is promoting its Kirin brands there.

Shares of Kirin fell 9 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 1,801 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange before the release of the first-quarter results.

Losses at its newly consolidated winemaker Mercian Corp. caused sales growth to outpace profit, the company said. Kirin in December completed the acquisition of a 50.12 percent stake in Mercian for 24.8 billion yen.

With the help of Mercian, Kirin expects sales of 2.15 trillion yen by 2009. The distributor of Chivas Regal whisky in Japan has pooled 300 billion yen for investments.

Kirin holds a 46.13 percent stake in Lion Nathan Ltd., Australia's second-biggest maker of beer, and also owns a 20.02 percent stake in Philippine brewer San Miguel Corp.

By market value, Kirin is almost twice as big as Asahi Breweries Ltd., its nearest competitor in Japan, and 40 percent larger than Foster's Group Ltd., Australia's biggest maker of beer and wine.

Asahi said on April 27 that it posted a loss of 1.9 billion yen in the first quarter on increased costs for sales promotion.

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