Australia: An outstanding 28.9% increase in interstate sales has underpinned a strong profit result for South Australia’s Coopers Brewery for the 12 months to June 30, 2004. Coopers, the only remaining family-owned brewer in Australia, reported on January 4 a 5.3% rise in net profit with a consolidated after tax result of A$9.477 million for 2003-04, compared to A$9.000 million in 2002-03.

Company sales revenue for the year was up from A$83.7 million to A$92.6 million. Coopers Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said that Coopers national beer sales in 2003-04 leapt in volume by 16.9%, in stark contrast to industry sales within Australia, which fell by 1%. Coopers overseas beer sales improved by 14.2%. Dr Cooper said the significant rise in interstate sales had been largely been a result of Coopers’ investment in Premium Beverages, which had substantially enhanced distribution. He said that Coopers was on line to repeat the growth performance in 2004-05. “Sales volume for home brew dropped 12.8% on last year as a result of the maturing market. The entry of the two major Australian brewers into the home brew market also had an impact,” he said. “Malt extract sales were virtually unchanged for the year, but sales of the brewed soft drink Birell increased by 5.4% over the previous year.”

Dr Cooper said that major items of capital expenditure during the year included: • The purchase of an additional 1.8 hectares of land adjoining its Regency Park property • Two additional fermenting vessels • A significant increase in the keg population to service the growth in kegged beers • Installation of a new, fully integrated ERP computer system, which went live on April 1, 2004 “Included in the capital commitments was an extension of the warehouse by an extra 4600 square metres, which was an increase in holding capacity of one third,” he said. Dr Cooper said that Coopers had also repaid in full, some seven years early, the balance of a State Government loan provided to assist fund the Regency Park expansion project. This payment had been for A$7.056 million, resulting in a decrease in non-current liabilities.

Coopers Marketing Director and Chairman, Mr Glenn Cooper, said that the company was continuing to benefit from the growing acceptance of Coopers cloudy beers, and the addition of new keg tap positions in South Australia and interstate. South Australian beer sales had risen by 10.5% for the year.

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