The world's third largest brewery, SAB Miller, announced a 12% increase in sales in Romania for the first eight months of this year, as compared with the same period last year.
The results go against the trend of decline on the Romanian market and are higher than those of the group in the rest of Europe.
"Our Europe business produced satisfactory results, with organic growth of 3%. In addition to continued volume growth in Russia and Romania, the second quarter's volume trends in the key markets of Poland and Czech Republic are better than in the first quarter, partially offset by the weakness in Italy and Hungary," a SAB Miller release reads.
Octavian Buzoianu, corporate affairs director at SAB Miller Romania, says the company's sales were good, bucking the trend in the beer market.
"Our sales were good, despite the bad weather and the decline of the market. I think the growth comes from the strength of our brands, which are Romanian and traditional," Buzoianu said. He expects full 2004 growth to reach about 15%.
The rainy weather this summer dealt a heavy blow to beer sales considering that half the year's sales in terms of quantity are normally made between May and August. Estimates for the losses incurred on the beer market indicate a figure in the region of $30 million (600,000 hectolitres). The market had a good start to the year, with 10-15% growth in the first few months, and representatives of the major breweries expected sales to exceed those of last year. In 2003, the market grew by 10% to 12.8 million hectolitres, approximately 550 million euros.
SAB Miller has five breweries: in Timisoara, Buzau, Pitesti, Cluj and Brasov; and has 22% of the market. The company recently acquired the Aurora Brasov brewery for 20 million dollars, a deal that put SAB Miller back in second position on the Romanian market. Aurora Brasov was a market performer last year, when it saw sales increase by 26.8% to 664,000 hectolitres and its slice of the market reach 5.2%. After the takeover was completed, Aurora Brasov announced a streamlining programme, which will involve making 30% of its employees redundant.
SAB Miller's most important brands in Romania are Ursus, Timisoareana, Aurora and Ciucas.
stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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