Fosun's Tsingtao purchase might go down well - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

China's financial authorities have scrutinized in 2017 many investments by Chinese companies, but the purchase by Fosun of the Asahi 19.9% stake in China's key brewer Tsingtao might go down well with them because the capital goes into a domestic company, explains business analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. 

Reuters:

“Fosun has been able to pick up the shares at a fairly significant discount,” said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group, adding there was room to grow both at home and overseas if Fosun could help Tsingtao move up-market. 

“China’s beer market is going through a reinvention right now as younger consumers shift towards more niche brands. Tsingdao is kind of an outlier because it has mass scale and volume but is also looked upon as being more premium than other domestic beer brands.”... 

It comes as a handful of Chinese conglomerates including Fosun have turned their sights back on the domestic market amid a crackdown by Beijing on eye-catching overseas ventures. 

Cavender said the deal would likely go down well with Chinese regulators because it was “an example of Fosun coming home and investing in a Chinese asset” rather than overseas. “Tsingtao is both a leading brewery in China, and a leading Chinese brand that has successfully penetrated the international markets,” Fosun Chairman Guo Guangchang said in the company’s statement. 

Fosun’s business model and global reach would help grow Tsingtao’s brand and tap into Chinese demand for more premium beers, he added.

More in Reuters.

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China consumer: pickier than ever - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

Pleasing the China consumer has always been a challenge, but - as Tsingtao and Wanda discovered - consumers have become harder to get. Retail expert Ben Cavender nevertheless sees a lot of room for growth, he tells Reuters.

Reuters:

Official numbers may suggest a rosier 2017 for China, but the bottom lines of the country’s top consumer firms – from brewers to noodle makers and cinema chains – paint a patchy picture of spending in the world’s second-largest economy. Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China’s number two brewer, posted its steepest drop in net profit in 20 years last week, blaming tough competition and weak demand. Noodle maker Tingyi saw profits drop by a third. 

China’s top cinema operator Wanda Cinema Line saw 2016 profits rise 15.2 per cent – down from growth of nearly 50 per cent the year before, as broader box office sales stalled. Imax China’s profit tumbled, too. 

“There’s still a tonne of room for growth, but these markets are much more competitive now and even bigger brands are starting to struggle,” said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group. 

“Consumers are becoming more cagey about how they’re spending their money, (from) food to clothing and movies.”

More in Reuters.

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Asahi leaving Tsingtao as market disappoints - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Asahi is selling its minority stake in Tsingtao beer as the beer market in China is not giving it the gain it expected since it entered in 2009, says business analyst Shaun Rein to Bloomberg. “Tsingtao is in trouble,” said Rein. “It’s not premium enough, and it’s not cheap enough.”

Bloomberg:

The overall beer market in China has declined 6 percent in volume since 2013, according to Euromonitor International. Tsingtao, with about 15 percent market share, trails China Resource Beer Holdings Co.’s popular Snow brand, which had 22 percent of the China market in 2015, Euromonitor data show. 

As the Chinese economy slows, mid-market brands like Tsingtao are squeezed, according to Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group. Some consumers are looking for lower-priced beers, he said, while more affluent Chinese are switching to pricier craft beers or wine. 

“Tsingtao is in trouble,” said Rein. “It’s not premium enough, and it’s not cheap enough.”

More in Bloomberg.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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