Foster’s Group has announced that its Australian brewing subsidiary, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), is to close its Kent Brewery in Sydney, with the loss of 300 jobs, as part of a major cost-cutting programme.
Foster’s also detailed further elements of the A$100m (US$60m) cost-saving programme at CUB to be undertaken over the coming five years. Foster’s said the programme would put CUB in a position to deliver earnings growth rates at the high end of its 5% to 7% target range.
The group said it will take a A$150m one-off charge in fiscal 2003 in respect of restructuring costs. But the company said it expected to gain at least A$75m from the sale of the site which is in central Sydney.
To compensate for the loss of the Kent production, Foster’s plans to increase capacity at both its Yatala brewery in Queensland and at its Matilda Bay brewery in Western Australia.
