Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Access the Market Tools Trusted by Thousands of Investors Get Started
Japan beermaker Asahi looks to halve debt after buying Australia assets
Published Apr 09, 2021 01:02AM ET
Updated Apr 09, 2021 01:16AM ET
By Yuki Nitta and Rocky Swift
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Asahi Group Holdings said it will aim to halve its debt and forego overseas investments after spending $11 billion to buy the Australian operations of Anheuser-Busch InBev.
"Basically, we are not considering any large-scale acquisitions," said Atsushi Katsuki, who became Asahi's new chief executive in March.
The owner of brands including Asahi Super Dry, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell will aim to reduce its debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to three times from six at the end of December.
Asahi won regulatory approval last year to buy the Australian brands Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) after agreeing to sell other assets in the country. Katsuki previously led Asahi's operations in Australia and Oceania before becoming its chief financial officer in 2019.In mature markets like Japan and Europe, Katsuki told Reuters he wanted to "premiumize" products: selling drinks at higher prices as shrinking populations mean that high volume sales may no longer be possible.
In Japan, Asahi has been hit harder than rivals by the COVID-19 pandemic due to its dependence on keg sales to restaurants and bars - many of which have struggled amid the prolonged crisis. Even so, the company in February forecast its full-year operating profit will exceed levels seen in 2019.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.