Coca-Cola Amatil has played down talk of a merger with brewer Foster's, amid speculation of further consolidation in the beverage industry.
Chief executive Terry Davis said today after CCA's annual meeting in Sydney that the company was pursuing its beer strategy with partner SABMiller.
"With our organic growth strategy in beer... we're not concerned how long it takes us to get a bigger presence in the Australian beer market; we're taking this gradually,'' Mr Davis said.
Shares in CCA rose 11 cents to close at $8.60, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4 per cent.
The high-margin Australian market has attracted Japanese firms such as Asahi Breweries and Kirin Holdings, which earlier this month agreed to buy No. 2 brewer Lion Nathan for $US2.5 billion ($3.2 billion).
Lion had dropped a planned $US4.9 billion takeover of Amatil earlier this year.
"The logic of beer and soft drink together is very strong,'' Amatil chief executive Terry Davis said when asked about speculation of potential merger between Amatil and Foster's.
But he said there was no value in it for Amatil at the price of about $5.00 at which Foster's was trading in August 2008.
"I would say the same thing today,'' he said.
Amatil has a joint venture with brewing giant SABMiller to sell some of SABMiller's premium beer brands such as Peroni.
Earlier, Amatil said it expects to generate first-half pre-tax profit growth in the high single digits.
Its shares rose 1.9 per cent to $8.65, against a 1 per cent fall in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index.
Reuters, AAP
