First company to report a decline in beer industry, the market leader itself

Autor: Ioana David 19.04.2011

Ursus Breweries, the domestic subsidiary of SABMiller brewer, posted an 8% decline in volumes sold during April 2010-March 2011 period, the producer's financial year, according to an interim report the company published yesterday. The document specifies the market is still in recession and governmental austerity moves further impacted it.

"The final results for the financial year ended will be reported in the second half of May. This is why it is too early to speak of the company's development in the general market context," said Gary Whitlie, chairman of Ursus Breweries, who provided no further details about the value of sales.

Out of the companies that have so far reported their results, the 8% decline included in Ursus' report is the steepest on the market, but the decline also comprises three months of this year (January-March), unlike other rivals that report their figures for a calendar year.

According to Romania's Brewers Association data, the market slid by 3.5% last year and in the first two months sales followed a slight recovery trend (plus 0.6%) according to ZF calculations based on National Statistics Institute (INS) data.