Malaysia: Beer and stout sales volume has dropped by 9%

Beer and stout sales volume has dropped by 9% in the last six months due to the increase in duty for those products last year, said Guinness Anchor Bhd managing director, Theo de Rond. He said the company was hoping the government would not impose another duty hike this year as it could impact the industry.

De Rond said the three consecutive duty hikes over the last three years had resulted in a 30% increase in beer prices and had led to a decrease in sales volumes De Rond said Malaysia had one of the highest excise duties, second only to Norway. Yet, he said the disposable income in Norway was much higher compared to Malaysia. If sales volume continued to drop, he said, the government’s revenue from beer sales would also be impacted.

For the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2005, Guinness posted a 2.95% drop in revenue to RM254.86 million due to lower sales volume but managed to record a net profit increase of 4.45% to RM29.91 million because of operational efficiency.