EABL Posts Impressive 12.5 Billion In Pre Tax Profits

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) today announced its pre tax profits for the financial year ended 30th June 2010 of KShs 12.5 billion, a 10 percent increase over the previous year’s KShs 11.5 billion.The net turnover went up 10 per cent to Kshs 37.9 billion compared to Kshs 34.4 billion in 2008-2009 financial year.

Therefore, the EABL Board of Directors has declared a full year dividend of KShs 8.75 per share up from KShs 8.05 the previous year, signifying a 9 per cent year on year increase.
“The business performed well with the growth of our anchor beer brands like Tusker and Guinness, and we experienced an upturn in our sprits performance in the year. We continue to make significant investments in brand building activities regionally that consistently deliver good short and long term returns. That notwithstanding we continue to face and address cost management pressures regionally,” said Seni Adetu, the Group Managing Director EABL.

In May, the company introduced Blossom Hill, an internationally acclaimed wine brand, into the Kenyan market. EABL expects to quickly gain a sizeable market presence in the fastest growing category within the alcoholic beverages segment.
In Uganda, Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) continues to make waves with the winning of two PR awards from the Public Relations Association of Uganda. In April, the company won three medals in the Monde Selection 2010; Bell Lager and Waragi were awarded Gold while Senator got a silver medal.

UBL also had successful launches of new brands into the Ugandan market; Serengeti Lager, and Alvaro Passion.

Investments:
EABL is in the final stages of acquiring a major interest in Serengeti Breweries Limited with the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission (FCC) approving the acquisition.
However, there are still some key steps to be made before the acquisition is complete. EABL is committed to strengthening our footprint in Tanzania through the SBL partnership.
EABL made regional investments of over Kshs 3.2 billion in additional capital investments to improve capacity and quality at its plants in Nairobi and Kampala.
A new Senator Keg line, that fills 480 barrels per hour, is fully operational in Kenya. This will increase Senator’s market penetration, which is targeted at the lower end of the market that has fallen prey to the illicit brews.
Later this year, in October, a new packaging line with a capacity of 50,000 bottles per hour will be commissioned at the Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) Plant in Kampala, Uganda.

Community Investment:
The EABL Foundation has continued to enrich the lives of East Africans in the past year.
EABL Foundation maintains its mandate to reach as many communities as possible. The Foundation has continued with the initiative of providing Clean water and sanitation services to over 500,000 people in East Africa annually. This financial year, EABL Foundation sponsored an additional 20 water and sanitation facilities in the region; so far 12 have been commissioned.

EABL continues to take the lead in the Responsible Drinking agenda. In this the just concluded financial year, EABL ran an impactful RD campaign across the region aimed at encouraging positive consumer behaviour with the launch of Space-It-Out - a responsible drinking activation.

This article was originally posted on East Africa Business Communities