Namibia: Namibia Breweries Limited reports 19.8% revenue increase in past financial year

Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) reported a 19.8% revenue increase driven by its diverse beverage portfolio in the past financial year, the Namibian reported on October 1.

According to a statement on the company’s condensed consolidated interim financial results for the period ended 30 June, NBL recorded an increase in net revenue to over N$4 billion.

“This was due to strong growth in the wine, cider and spirits portfolio, coupled with market share gains in beer,” the statement, issued by spokesperson Surihe Gaomas-Guchu, says.

During the second half of the year, the company’s contributions from South Africa showed improvement, while export revenue slowed, she says.

In addition, fixed-cost ratios improved, brought about by the integration of Distell and NBL.

In April last year, Heineken International acquired Distell Group Holdings Limited and NBL, which were combined with Heineken South Africa into a new Heineken majority-owned business to capture significant growth opportunities in southern Africa.

Heineken’s chief executive and chairman of the executive board, Dolf van den Brink, at the time said: “We are delighted to welcome over 5 400 talented employees of Distell and Namibia Breweries to Heineken, and look forward to adding more than €1 billion in net revenue and €150 million operating profit to our African footprint.

“By combining the strengths of all three entities, we can leverage our expertise and resources to foster growth, create jobs and contribute to the overall economic development of the region,” he said.

The expanded portfolio provided more opportunities to meet consumer needs, while the company’s operating profit increased by 10.6% to N$466 million, compared to N$421 million in 2023.

The NBL net profit after tax declined by over 90% year on year, primarily due to significant one-off gains in 2023 from the sale of shares in Heineken South Africa.

Excluding these gains, normalised profit after tax, measured by headline earnings per share, saw a 3.3% decrease, attributed to increased financing and taxation costs, the statement says.

This positive financial growth was achieved through NBL’s strong emphasis on the fundamentals of its core business, while the acquired portfolio benefited from improved numeric distribution, effective price management, sustainable cost management, as well as an integrated planning and supply process, Gaomas-Guchu says.

NBL’s managing director Peter Simons on September 30 said: “As a Namibian business dedicated to boosting the local economy, we’ve made great performance milestones.

“This included N$1.6 billion in total corporate taxes, customs and excise paid out last year, capital of N$337 million invested into the commissioning of our new wine packaging line, a total of N$44 million invested to improve existing packaging lines, extending our warehouse to the tune of N$56 million and growing the capacity of our workforce and a further N$3.2 million was spent on development and training,” he said.

In the coming six months, NBL plans to continue optimising the combined brands, infrastructure and people.

Synergies are further expected to bolster margins, balancing price sensitivity impacts on revenue, while an expanding data set would enable the business to anticipate competitive market trends going forward to capitalise on further growth opportunities, the NBL statement reads.

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