Leading Polish brewing group Zywiec, a unit of Dutch brewing giant Heineken, said on September 11 the stellar financial and operating results recorded in the first half of 2003 will be continued in the second half of the year due to strong summer sales and the rewards of its restructuring policy, according to Interfax. Zywiec president Nico Nusmeier told reporters Wednesday that its first-half results were the best since the group was set up in 1998, terming the results "very satisfying."

The group, which jousts with SABMiller's Kompania Piwowarska for market lead, posted in the first six months 26% growth in operating profit to PLN 158 mln, 25% growth in net profit to PLN 101 mln and 3.2% growth in sales to PLN 1.49 bln. By volume, sales were up nearly 5% to 6.2 mln hectoliters (100 liters = 1 hl). Zywiec justified the good results by pointing to its consistently executed policy of reducing and optimizing operating costs and better using economies of scale generated by its five brewery group.

"The positive results achieved in the first half of the year along with the completed summer season, in which we sold over 2 mln hl of beer in July and August, allow us to forecast that the current growth trend will be maintained," Nusmeier said. "We thus assume our sales will increase by nearly 5% this year, though in fact this level was already achieved in August," he added.

The Zywiec group managed to increase its share of the Polish beer market from 32% to 32.4% in the first half of the year. The company also said on September 11 that the Central Statistical Office estimated that the Zywiec group is Poland's largest beer exporter, accounting for 65% of the country's total beer exports. Heineken owns 93% of the Zywiec group.

17 September, 2003