Six months since ThaiBev acquired a major stake in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco), Vietnam’s leading brewer contributed VND20.32 trillion (US$875.19 million) in revenue and net profit of VND2.36 trillion (US$101.64 million) to Thailand’s beverage producer.
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Thanks to positive business performance of Sabeco and its affiliates, ThaiBev – controlled by tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi – posted net revenue from sales of goods in the January – June period at VND122.37 trillion (US$5.27 billion), up 22% year-on-year.
Of the total, sales of liquor products amounted to VND82.44 trillion (US$3.55 billion), contributing 67.36% of the total revenue, followed by beer products with 40% of revenue, equivalent to VND69.78 trillion (US$3 billion).
According to ThaiBev, while the beer consumption in the Southeast Asia has been slowing down, Sabeco still maintains an impressive growth rate.
Last December, the Vietnamese government sold nearly 54% stake or 343.42 million shares in Sabeco to ThaiBev through its local unit Vietnam Beverage for US$4.89 billion. ThaiBev secured the fund necessary for the deal by borrowing US$3.05 billion from local banks, including Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank Public, Krung Thai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, and Siam Commercial Bank, with two-year terms.
BeerCo, ThaiBev’s wholly-owned subsidiary, also borrowed US$1.95 billion from Mizuho Bank and Standard Chartered Bank’s Singapore branch to help finance the deal.
In 2017, Sabeco alone produced 1.77 billion liters of beer, an increase of 6.6% year-on-year, while the second largest domestic brewer, Habeco (18% market share), brewed 657.6 million liters, down 6.5%.
