Asahi to Buy 5 Brands of AB InBev, UniCredit to Raise

Sarla Buch
13 Dec, 2016
New York City

AB InBev agreed to sell its five beer brands to Japan-based rival Asahi Group for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – AB InBev agreed to sell its five beer brands to Japan-based rival Asahi Group for €7.3 billion. German discount retailer ALDI said sales surged 10%. The U.K. government today reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking. UniCredit plans to raise €13 billion in a rights offer.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index jumped 41.64 or 0.6% to 6,933.23 and in Frankfurt the DAX index increased 54.51 or 0.5% to 11,244.82.

In Paris, CAC 40 index advanced 23.68 or 0.5% to 4,784.43.

Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV, the Belgium-based brewers agreed to sell its five beer brands including Pilsner Urquell to the Japan-based alcohol beverages makers Asahi Group Holdings Ltd for about €7.3 billion or 888.3 billion yen or $7.8 billion.

Anheuser-Busch InBev to sell the businesses formerly owned by SABMiller Limited in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania to Asahi Group.

The transaction expected to close in the fiscal year ending December 2017. However, the deal needs to be approved by the European Union anti-trust regulators.

ALDI GmbH & Co. KG, the Germany-based discount food retailer revenues in the quarter ending on December 4 soared 10.8% from 10% in the same period a year ago and revenues surged 10% to €1.62 billion.

Carpetright Plc declined 3.6% to 192.90 pence after the U.K.-based floor coverings and beds retailer said revenues in the first-half ending on October 29 dropped 3.8% from a year ago to £222.3 million.

During the period, comparable sales in the domestic market slipped 2.9% on weak consumer demand and in rest of the Europe comparable sales fell 1.5%.

Net income in the period plunged 22% from a year ago to £3.9 million compared to the £5 million and diluted earnings per share decreased to 5.8 pence from 7.3 pence.

The retailer consensus operating income in the year ending on April 29, 2017 of about £16.1 million, with a range from £13.9 million to £18.5 million.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc gained 1.4% to 62.24 pence after the U.K. government today further reduced its stake to 6.93% from 7.99% in last month that originally of 43% in the financial services provider for full private ownership in the next year.

The U.K. government recovered £17.5 billion to government coffers from £20.3 billion bailout in the financial crisis and said the proceeds will be used to reduce the national debt.

In November, Lloyds said it had set aside another £1 billion to compensate the claims for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.

Sainsbury Plc fell 0.4% to 241 pence after the U.K.-based grocery and retail banking services provider’s market share in the quarter ending on December 4 slid 16.5%, compared to the 16.7% in the same period a year ago and sales dropped 0.6% to £4.33 billion.

Tesco Plc dropped 3% to 206.45 pence after the U.K.-based food, banking and insurance services provider''s market share in the quarter ending on December 4 rose 28.3% from 28% in the same period a year ago and sales jumped 1.6% to £7.42 billion or $9.4 billion.

UniCredit SpA surged 8.3% to €2.63 after Italy-based banking and financial services plans to raise €13 billion in a rights offer, and the bank forecasted net profit in fiscal 2019 of about €4.7 billion.

Separately, the lender signed two agreements for the disposal of non-performing loan portfolio worth of €17.7 billion to Fortress Investment Group and PIMCO.

""""All these actions will allow us to generate a return on tangible equity of above 9 per cent in 2019,” chief executive officer, UniCredit Jean Pierre Mustier said.

The transactions are expected to close by the end of the first-half of 2017.