Heineken has bought Egyptian brewer Al Ahram for $287m in order to expand in North Africa. Heineken CEO Anthony Ruys said the company was looking to buy more companies in Russia, China and Latin America, as he unveiled an 11% rise in sales in the first half to E4.96bn from E4.45bn last year, with net operating profit up 11% to E330m from E298m in 2001.

SAB ahead
SABMiller, the company formed when South African Breweries bought Miller, said its results and earnings for the five months to the end of August were ahead of last year "in the light of the significant depreciation of some Southern African currencies".

Ahold lady
Ahold's US Foodservice unit is to buy the net working capital and goodwill of foodservice distributor Lady Baltimore Foods.
The deal will improve its presence in Kansas and Missouri.

Moët profit
French luxury goods maker Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton has returned to profit following four profit warnings last year which saw sales slump 4% in the wake of September 11. The maker of Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, and Veuve Cliquot announced a 10% rise in first-half net profit to E350m on turnover up to E5.82bn from E5.69bn.

German deal
Cadbury Schweppes has agreed to buy Brau and Brunnen's 72% stake in the Apollinaris & Schweppes joint venture in Germany for £97m.
The deal includes the Apollinaris, Heppinger and Big Apple brands and gives Cadbury Schweppes 100% control of the company.

Losses soar
Losses continue to mount at cash-strapped US discounter Kmart as it revealed a 12.1% drop in first-half sales compounded by the closure of 283 stores during the second quarter. Sales to July 31 slumped to $15.2bn from $17.3bn in 2001 and net losses spiralled to $1.83bn from $610m last year. The company's management said the disappointing results would put a halt to its original plans to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by July 2003.

Sale is off
The planned sale of US chocolate maker Hershey Foods has been abandoned. Cadbury Schweppes and Nestlé were rumoured to have been in the chase.


{{NEWS }}