AB InBev to sell Peroni brand to Asahi upon takeover

Anheuser-Busch InBev has accepted an offer from Japanese brewing group Asahi for the Peroni brand, should its takeover of SABMiller go through.

AB InBev have been clear about their desire to sell a couple of SABMiller’s brands from the outset, and the sale to Asahi is part of their plan to acquire antitrust approval for its ¢100 billion takeover of SAB.

Asahi Group have confirmed that they are in talks to buy SABMiller’s Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beer brands for 2.55 billion euros.

Netflix fall on slower growth

Online streaming service Netflix announced a surprising drop in subscriber growth, causing shares to fall nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

The company said it expected to add about 500,000 customers in the US and two million internationally during the current trading quarter ending in June. These figures are significantly lower than those forecast by analysts, which were 586,000 users in the US and 3.5 million globally.

However, the company posted a profit rise of $4 million on the year before, at $28 million. The share price has now eased, standing down 2.79 percent at 108.40 (0813GMT).

Primark owner Associated British Foods saw shares rise this morning after a 3 percent rise in first-half profit.

The company, which also owns a slew of major sugar, grocery and agriculture businesses, surprised analysts with an underlying profit of £486 million in the six months to February, above the £480 million forecast.

AB Foods confirmed that their underlying trading outlook for the group for the full 2015-16 year was unchanged. The group (LON:ABF) are trading up 1.82 percent at 3,406 (0818GMT).

19/04/2016