Highlights
− Good underlying performance with group net producer revenue (NPR) growth of 4%, beverage volumes up 1% and group NPR per hectolitre (hl) up 4%
− Growth accelerated in the second quarter, with group NPR growth of 6% and beverage volume growth of 2%
− Group lager volumes for the half were in line with the prior year with subsidiary lager volume growth of 3% (second quarter growth of 5%) offset by the performance of our associates
− Premium lager brands NPR growth of 7%1, driven by strong performance in many of our key markets, supported by global lager brands NPR growth of 14%2 with growth across all regions
− Good performance across both Latin America and Africa resulted in soft drinks volumes up 4%
− Our cost programme is on track to deliver more than US$430 million of annualised savings by the year end2
− EBITA growth of 5% and EBITA margin3 expansion of 20 basis points (bps). EBITA margin was adversely impacted by competitive pressure in Poland and the transactional impacts of currency depreciation
− Adjusted constant currency EPS grew by 5% and by 7% excluding the impact of Tsogo Sun4
− Reported group NPR, EBITA and adjusted EPS declined by 12%, 11% and 11%, respectively, primarily as a result of the depreciation of key operating currencies against the US dollar
− Free cash flow of US$1,423 million despite adverse currency movements, with improved cash conversion
− Interim dividend per share of 28.25 US cents, up 9% on prior year
− On 11 November 2015, the boards of SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev, expected to complete in the second half of 2016
