Breweries fly high

Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) this week delivered another set of impressive interim results for the six months ended December 31 2013, posting a boost of 17% in operating profit to N$274 million as compared to previous results where they had N$234 million.
Turnover for NBL grew by 11% to reach N$1,4 billion as compared to the previous result of N$1.2 billion signalling growth whilst the earnings per share were up 41% to 82.5 cents.
An interim dividend per ordinary share of 34 cents was announced.
NBL Managing Director, Hendrik van der Westhuizen stated “Our overall sales continue to grow in Namibia, RSA and exports, albeit from a small base in our export markets.”

Van der Westhuizen said that the breweries’ growth for the year can be attributed to a number of factors such as the successful co-packaging for RSA, new packaging strategies and innovations and continual investments. “We continued to invest in our brands based on consumer feedback across our product offering. Windhoek lager saw the launch of a new TV campaign which was launched across SADC, associating the brand with soccer legend Didier Drogba and portraying both their journeys from humble beginnings to world-class success” he said. Meanwhile Van der Westhuizen said that the Tafel brand continued to be impressive as it emerged as the strongest in the portfolio which helped to increase market share, whilst Windhoek Draught was third in the portfolio contributing to overall growth in volumes.
NBL Finance Director, Graeme Mouton shared the same sentiments and satisfaction of NBL’s performance, “Overall NBL has delivered good performance in the last 6 months, mainly driven by top line growth in sales volumes and further supported by pricing.
“Volumes in our exports also grew compared to the prior year with Mozambique and Tanzania seeing good growth in volumes albeit small base. DHN Drinks, our joint venture in South Africa,   continued to grow its total portfolio, with increasing sales compared to the prior period, the RTD portfolio being the main driver of growth. Taking our margins and royalty income into account, we continued to make positive returns in South Africa overall” he added. Van der Westhuizen then attributed some of the challenges to the continuous cross border trade in some key markets; sin tax in Botswana and Zambia of up to 50% and 60% respectively and increased costs on all imported raw materials.
He further stated that despite many challenges in the industry, NBL had managed to grow operating profit by double digits.