11-03-2009 - Vol. 11 / No. 05Even tho volume down 1% in 3d qtr, MillerCoors profits continued up strong in 1st apples-to-apples comparison (MC born Jul 1, 08) and MC found an additional $200 mil in savings by 2012. That will bring total synergies and savings to $700 mil. Not bad. Oper income jumped another $61.1 mil, 35% to $232.1 in 3d qtr. That means MC oper income at $759 mil, up $271.9 mil, 56% for 9 mos. MillerCoors rev per bbl up 3.7% in 3d qtr, not as strong as 5% in 1st half, but still very healthy and way above inflation. MC has visibility on about 80% of country and so far pricing up about 2% in this round of increases, going into 2010. In 3d qtr, MC cost of goods sold up 3.5%. But MC expects its COGS to be about even in 2010, Leo told INSIGHTS. Meanwhile, MC continued to cut mktg, gen and admin costs. Down another $23 mil, 4.5% in 3d qtr “driven primarily by lower organizational costs and synergies,” said MC. MC cut $128 mil, 8% from mg&a yr-to-date.
MillerCoors remains ahead-of-schedule on capturing the $500 mil in promised synergies. Delivered another $73 mil in 3d qtr “largely due to marketing synergies as well as organizational savings resulting from the elimination of duplicate and transitional positions in the third quarter 2008,” MC said. So far MC has delivered $183 mil in synergies this yr, bringing 15-mo total to $211 mil. Now expects $270 mil by end of 09, on its way to $500 mil in synergies and $200 mil more in savings by 2012. MillerCoors ceo Leo Kiely concluded: “We are delivering our synergies, controlling costs and managing revenue for sustainable profit growth.”
