E-Malt.com News article: Zimbabwe: Delta Beverages hopes to sell higher lager volumes this year despite competition with imported beer

Imported beer hurt the sales of Zimbabwe’s Delta Beverages during the last quarter of 2008 but the company’s management hopes to sell higher volumes this year, CEO Joe Mutizwa was quoted as saying by The Zimbabwe Independent on May, 14.

Lager beer sales fell to 48% in the first half of last year compared to the previous year while government price controls rendered some of the sales unviable.

Zimbabwe saw an influx of imported lager beer cans that quickly replaced bottled beer as a favourite for consumers, a development that resulted in a loss of market share for Delta in the last quarter of 2008 but Mutizwa says his company has fought back its competitors.

“Improved sales in the final quarter of the year were 30% up on the traditional peak demand and 82% of those of the previous year,” Mr. Mutizwa said.

Delta says sales from the first quarter of this year have been firm, accounting for 54% of last year’s depressed.

With its old market turf back to its traditional owners, Delta hopes to lift volumes this year, the CEO said.

“Lager sales in the first half of the financial year were 48% of the previous year, this persisted into the third quarter with the result that the three months into December, which is usually the peak demand period for beverages, had sales which were only marginally higher than those of the normally subdued winter quarter,” the company said.

March sales of lagers represented the highest monthly sales since April 2008, the company said.

“This rising trend has continued into April when sales, whilst by no means back to the levels of a few years ago, were at a level not seen since October and November 2007.

“Sorghum beer (Chibuku) shows a similar, though slightly better, trend to lagers with the sales for the year at 64 % to prior year.

Delta’s turnover stood at US$3.3 million for the year while income US$1.7 million in the same period.

Earnings per share stood at $1.66 for the same period.

Delta hopes that inflows of foreign direct investment, lines of credit and aid coming into the country will lift Zimbabwe’s GDP 10% this year.


20 May, 2009