For SABMiller, Romania boasted the strongest growth rate last year on European markets, after a 28% advance drove the sales of Ursus Breweries to 4.9 million hectolitres, namely 25% of the market, company data reveals.
"We've enjoyed a very good period domestically, and last year Romania registered the strongest growth rate for SABMiller on any European market. At the same time, the domestic market is fourth in terms of volume and has the same profile in terms of turnover and profit," Alan Clark, managing director with SABMiller Europe, told ZF.
The three most important European markets for SABMiller are Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia, whilst the group owns production centres in 9 European states and carries out export activities across another 7 markets, which generate annual sales worth more than 43 million hectolitres.
Last year, sales on the Romanian market outpaced Italian sales, where deliveries by Peroni producer have remained constant, at around 3.7 million hectolitres, for the past three years. "It's hard to anticipate whether Romania will become one of the top 3 European markets, particularly because it stands behind Poland and the Czech Republic, which boast extremely high levels of consumption, as well as Russia, a huge market compared with the number of potential consumers. At any rate, we will continue hold high expectations for the Romanian market in the future," explains the managing director.
Clark would not provide any information concerning the company's financial results, but specified that volume growth rates, like the one posted in the fiscal year that ended in March 2008 (28%), will be hard to match in the coming years.
"The latest estimates point to a market growth rate of 5-6% this year, but we want to outperform the market, as we did last year," says Clark.
Clark follows SABMiller's protocol and did not discuss the group's involvement in the negotiations for the takeover of Bere Mures, the second independent brewer on the market. However, after Bere Mures became part of the rival company Heineken Romania's portfolio, Timisoreana owners decided to step up investments in Romania.
While Heineken targets a production capacity of 6.3 million hectolitres in the wake of the Bere Mures deal, Ursus representatives forecast overall domestic production will amount to 7 million hectolitres at the end of March 2009, the largest capacity of any domestic producer.
"We'll make further investments in the breweries in Buzau and Timisoara as the centres in Cluj and Brasov can no longer be expanded. However, we don't intend to close any of these breweries, given that we've produced below the capacity requested by the market in recent years," Clark adds.
In the wake of investments worth close to 100m euros, in the past three fiscal years SABMiller has managed to boost sales of the Romanian subsidiary by almost 60%, from 3.1 million hectolitres in 2006, to almost 5 million hectolitres last year.
SABMiller
A 28% advance drove the sales of Ursus Breweries to 4.9 million hectolitres, namely 25% of the market
In the wake of investments worth close to 100m euros, in the past 3 fiscal years SABMiller has managed to boost sales of the Romanian subsidiary by almost 60%, from 3.1 million hl in 2006, to almost 5 million hl last year
Intends to step up investments in Romania
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