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Miller Brewing Sales Fall Off in Late 2005

Posted on: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 00:00 CST

By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jan. 19--Miller Brewing Co.'s sales in the U.S. dropped during the three months ending Dec. 31 despite continued growth for its largest brand, Miller Lite, according to a company statement issued Wednesday.

Miller's sales volume dropped 1 percent compared with sales from the same period in 2004 when adjusted for the reduced number of trading days during the quarter, according to London-based SABMiller Plc, Miller's corporate parent.

That decline occurred in "a market that was characterized by intense competitive pricing pressure," the statement says.

Sales of Miller Lite, which accounts for around 40 percent of Miller Brewing sales, have continued to grow, improving on strong comparable figures from a year earlier, the company said. SABMiller declined to elaborate on how much the brand grew.

While Miller Lite has been revived over the past two years, Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing, the nation's second-largest brewer, continues to face declining or flat sales among its other major brands: Milwaukee's Best, Miller High Life and Miller Genuine Draft.

Miller executives unveiled plans last week to sell Genuine Draft as beer for people who have "come of age," which the company loosely defines as consumers who are 26 to 40 years old. That's a big departure in a business that has traditionally focused most of its marketing muscle on people ages 21 to 24 -- a group that drinks 30 percent of the nation's beer, according to industry statistics.

Miller also launched new ad campaigns in the second half of 2005 for High Life and Milwaukee's Best.

Miller's sales volume during 2005 dropped 0.8 percent compared with 2004, while the entire U.S. beer industry posted a 0.3 percent sales decline, according to estimates published this week by Beer Market's Insights, a trade publication.

Anheuser-Busch Inc., the nation's largest brewer, had a 1.8 percent sales decline, while third-ranked Coors Brewing Co. saw its sales drop by 0.7 percent, according to the publication.

Mainstream brewers like Miller and Anheuser-Busch have been losing market share within the alcohol drinks business to spirits and wine producers.

However, imported beers and domestic craft beers have enjoyed strong U.S. sales growth in recent years.

The two companies that hold the U.S. marketing rights for Corona, a popular Mexican beer, each had estimated sales increases of more than 11 percent for 2005, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. The nation's largest craft brewer, Boston Beer Co., which brews Samuel Adams Boston Lager, posted a 7.3 percent increase.

SABMiller, which has operations throughout the world, reported that its companywide beer sales increased 1.8 percent for the three months ending Dec. 31. SABMiller said sales were dampened by cool, wet weather during December in South Africa, one of the company's biggest markets.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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SBMRY, SAB, MO, BUD, TAP, SAM,

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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