* Oxxo stores, soft drinks to lift net
* Beer volumes in Mexico may recover, exports too
MONTERREY, Mexico, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Mexican brewer and
bottler FEMSA is expected to post a 29 percent jump in
third-quarter net profit on the back of solid soft drink sales
and expansion from its Oxxo convenience stores.
A Reuters poll of four analysts forecast that FEMSA
(FMSAUBD.MX) (FMX.N) earned, on average, 2.604 billion pesos
($193 million) in the July-September period, compared with
2.020 billion pesos in the same quarter of last year.
"Once again, the commercial segment (Oxxo) and the drinks
unit (KOF) remain the most important operations supporting
solid figures," IXE brokerage said in a report.
FEMSA operates KOF (KOFL.MX) (KOF.N), the second-biggest
Coca-Cola bottler in the world. Mexico is among the top
consumers of Coke drinks globally.
The company also has FEMSA Cerveza, its beer business which
may be the target of an acquisition. FEMSA has held talks with
possible bidders, including Britain's SABMiller Plc (SAB.L) and
Holland's Heineken (HEIN.AS).
Analysts expect FEMSA's quarterly sales to rise nearly 19
percent to 49.522 billion pesos while earnings before interest,
tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are seen up 18
percent.
They also expect a slight recovery of beer volumes in
Mexico, which have been hurt in past quarters due to the
economic slowdown. Exports, particularly to the United States,
may also show a modest bounce.
FEMSA, based in the northern industrial city of Monterrey,
is expected to file financial results on Wednesday.
Following is a table with the average of analysts'
expectations. All figures in pesos.
--------------------------------------------------------------
2009 2008 PERCENTAGE
JULY-SEPT JULY-SEPT CHANGE
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sales 49.522 bln 41.723 bln +18.7 pct
EBITDA 9.241 bln 7.850 bln +17.7 pct
Operating profit 6.896 bln 5.677 bln +21.5 pct
Net profit 2.604 bln 2.020 bln +28.9 pct
==============================================================
($1 = 13.5035 pesos as of end September)
(Reporting by Gabriela Lopez, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
