Carlton & United Breweries' (CUB) flagship beer, Victoria Bitter, is back in the flow, with its London-based parent, SABMiller, announcing that its sales had grown for a second quarter in a row after more than a decade of decline.
The company also reported that its acquisition of the Australian brewer had driven a 166 per cent surge in earnings from its Asia-Pacific division to $US5.69bn ($5.92bn) for the 12 months to the end of March.
SABMiller said that though its lager volumes in Australia were five per cent lower than the prior year in a weak market, volumes in the fourth quarter were three per cent ahead of the prior year, driven by the resurgence of the Victoria Bitter brand and strong growth in the premium segment.
SABMiller acquired CUB 18 months ago in a deal worth $12.3 billion. Last October, CUB returned VB to its original full strength of 4.9 per cent, and moved back to its traditional green and white label, and backed the move with a high profile marketing campaign.
Then in March, Victoria Bitter reclaimed the number one spot as Australia's best selling beer for the prior quarter, according to figures from Nielsen. It found that in the quarter to March, VB held 12.2 per cent of the beer market in Australia followed by XXXX Gold at 11.9 per cent.
In more good news for CUB, its Matilda Bay craft beer subsidiary was a winner at the Australian International Beer Awards, which were held last night.
Its Alpha Pale Ale draught took the title of Champion Australian Beer and Oud Beersel Oude Geuze brewed by Oud Beersel from Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, won the Champion International Beer.
According to the organisers, a record number of entries were received in 2013; over 1,480 beers from more than 230 brewers in 35 countries, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year.
Victoria Bitter is back in the lead in the Australian beer market.
