China’s beer maker, Kingway Brewery Holdings Limited, based in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Kingway announced on September 16 its H1 2004 financial results. The brewery said that its net profit for the first half of the year increased 51.9% up to US$8.96 million (HK$69.8 million). Company’s turnover also rose, by 37.5% to HK$340 million. Kingway attributed the rise to a recovery after SARS damages.

Kingway changed its name from Guangdong on July 1, 2004. The brewery is 21%-owned by Heineken through its joint-venture with Singapore’s Asia Pacific Breweries. Kingway Brewery is an investment holding company whose subsidiaries produce, distribute and market Kingway beer. It is a leading regional brewer in the Guangdong Province and its major markets include Shenzhen, Dongguan, Pearl River Delta and Eastern Guangdong. Kingway beer is also available in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. There are more than 30 beer variants under the Kingway label of which the 3 main ones are Kingway classic, Kingway draft and Kingway 2008. In Guangdong, Kingway Brewery is the third largest brewery in terms of sales volume with a dominant position in Shenzhen. It is also one of the most profitable listed breweries with operations in China. Its market capitalisation as of Jan 9 2004 was US$279 million.

Kingway Brewery owns two plants in Shenzhen. The first plant was constructed in 1986 and its capacity was expanded to 2 million hectolitres by 1996. A second 2-million-hectoliter plant was built in a new industrial zone in the suburbs. In July 2003, Guangdong Brewery announced that it had plans to set up a third plant with an expected capacity of 2 million hectolitres in Shantou, Guangdong Province. They expect operations to commence in 2005.

18 September, 2004