adminshareholder SABMiller, which holds 36,9 percent equity.
“SABMiller 2011 lager volumes for the third quarter were 3 percent ahead of the prior year with good growth in all our regions with the exception of Europe and North America.
“Our associate Castle grew lager volumes by 9 percent with a strong performance in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” a statement from SABMiller said.
Soft drinks also did extremely well after growing by 9 percent with exceptional performances from South Sudan, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and from SABMiller associate Castle. SABMiller said organic, constant currency group revenue grew 7 percent for the quarter and the group revenue per hectolitre grew 3 percent on the same basis supported principally by price benefits, with mix gains achieved in all regions except Europe.
“Overall, financial performance for the quarter was in line with our expectations,” said SABMiller.
Raw material costs rose moderately and investment in the group’s brands and market facing capabilities was also increased, which together with higher central costs constrained margins, overall, financial performance for the third quarter was in line with expectations.
In Zimbabwe, sparkling beverage volumes showed strong growth despite the price adjustments offered in June 2011. Delta recently commissioned a new soft drinks bottle packaging line worth US$13 million which is expected to increase the available capacity to 2 million hectolitres resolve the constrained capacity on the 300ml bottles. It also installed new lager beer and soft drink packing lines in Harare and Bulawayo.
Online Reporter