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Breweries records a 13% increase in local beer production

Breweries records a 13% increase in local beer production

Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) saw its local beer volumes increase by 13% in the 2021 financial year, which was only 2% below pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019, according to the latest financials released this week.

However, production volumes to South Africa were down by 36% during the year financial year under review due to alcohol bans and trade restrictions in South Africa.

Heineken South Africa experienced further trade restrictions during the reporting period, which impacted volumes as well as royalties and resulted in a revenue decrease for NBL of 18.5% to N$1386 million.

Meanwhile, the company recorded 0.10% in revenue, bringing it to N$2.65 billion in the financial year under review.

Despite COVID-19 related alcohol bans, lockdowns and curfews placing pressure on sales revenue, the company’s profit after tax stands at N$373 million, up by 42.8%.

NBL Managing Director, Marco Wenk expects a steady performance for the company’s core portfolio in the 2022 financial year, anchored by its Windhoek and Tafel branded beers.

“NBL will continue to focus on further growing existing brands while also innovating into new and exciting liquids based on consumer preferences and demand. Trade execution and relationships, route-to-market and operational efficiencies will receive significant focus while we continue to support and adhere to all regulations and directives to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We expect our South African performance to stabilize and return to normality once trade restrictions have been reasonably lifted,” Wenk said.

Heineken N.V. made an offer to acquire NBL’s 25% shareholding in Heineken South Africa Proprietary Limited.

The transaction, should it proceed, is subject to several conditions, one of which relates to NBL not making any distributions, including a dividend declaration, to its shareholders in respect of the financial year ended 30 June 2021.

In light of this, the Board has taken a decision not to declare a final dividend for the financial year ended 30 June 2021.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys