SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, has reported strong profit growth for the year ending 31 March 2012, helped by increased sales in Latin America.

Net annual profits of $5.6 billion represent a 54 percent increase on 2011, although the results also include an exceptional gain of $1.2 billion from the sale of the company’s Russian and Ukrainian business.

Lower volume sales in North America and Europe were more than compensated by a 9 percent increase in lager sales in Latin America.

Ireland’s Dawn Meats has clinched a five-year, €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef annually for McDonald’s Ireland.

In order to fulfill the contract, Dawn Meats has invested €14.5 million in a new purpose-built, state-of-the-art beef processing facility in Carroll’s Cross, Co Waterford, creating 65 new jobs. In addition, over 100 construction jobs have been created during the construction phase of the facility, which commenced in December 2011.

Canadian junior exploration company Argex Mining Inc. has been collaborating with global specialist chemicals company PPG Industries on a project that could revolutionise pigment supply in the paint industry. President and CEO Roy Bonnell talks to Gay Sutton about producing paint quality titanium dioxide pigment grade directly from run-of-mine ore.

Exploiting Canada’s mineral riches is encouraging new technologies to be put to the test, as Alan Swaby learns from general manager Long Habour Operations Don Stevens, Long Harbour Processing Plant construction project director Rinaldo Stefan, and corporate affairs manager Bob Carter.

There are two things an ambitious engineer wants to see on his CV: big projects and ground breaking technology. For those lucky enough to be working for Vale on the Long Harbour project in Newfoundland, they will have both.

CSRAméricas 2012, the region’s leading annual event on corporate social responsibility, opened this week in Quito, Ecuador.

The inauguration was attended by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno, who called on firms to adopt innovative means for including disadvantaged people in the workforce and making them partners across the value chain.

Moreno also stressed the importance of innovation for developing growth models that do not rely on the intensive use of natural resources.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?

Robin Murray Brown of Tyzack Partners looks at the various strategies boards need to employ in order to avoid becoming victims of an increasingly competitive business environment.

Albert Einstein once observed that “any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction”. What, I wonder, might he have made of the corporate leadership challenges of the early 21st century?

After being hurt by falling coal prices in 2008, Trollope Mining Services has grown dramatically by taking a more balanced approach.

Headquartered in Johannesburg, Trollope Mining Services provides expertise in surface mining services. These include opencast mining, rehabilitation, bulk earthworks, plant hire and road construction. Much of the work involves excavating land and then drilling and blasting, stock-piling usable materials and removing any rubble.

Petrolube, an affiliated member of the global lubricants group Fuchs Group, was established in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, more than a decade ago. Now, exponential growth in the mining of gold and other minerals has presented it with unique opportunities.

European dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced plans for two major mergers—with German dairy Milch-Union Hocheifel and the UK’s Milk Link.

Milch-Union Hocheifel (MUH) is Germany’s eighth largest dairy with owners in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. Milk Link is the UK’s fourth largest dairy.

If the mergers are finalised and approved, Arla will be represented by owners in its four largest markets: the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.