Czech Republic: Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice ups profit by CZK 25.5 million in 2004

Czech brewery Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice netted CZK 120 million last year, a growth of CZK 25.5 million compared to 2003, CEO and board of directors deputy chairman Pavel Gregoric told CTK on June 15, 2005, according to Prague Daily Monitor. It is the best result since Krusovice was transformed into a joint stock company in 1992.

Shareholders at the annual general meeting held on June 14 decided to transfer 5 percent of the profit to the reserve fund and use CZK 113.9 million to repay loans. "We will continue to boost exports considerably, focusing mainly on the launch of exports to the USA," Gregoric said.

Exports rose by almost 50 percent to 153,813 hectolitres. The company exports beer to 20 European countries, mainly Germany, Russia and Slovakia.

Krusovice put out 690,386 hectolitres of beer last year, a growth of 2.3 percent compared to 2003. Beer output grew for the first time since 1997, when the company produced around one million hectolitres. Krusovice produces four types of beer and the Radler lemon beer.

The company, which employs 310 staff, has recently taken on 20 staff members. It ranked seventh in sales among Czech brewers in 2004.

Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice was founded in the 16th century, and is one of the country's oldest breweries. It was fully privatised in 1993 and became a unit of multinational group Dr. Oetker.

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