South Australian premium brewer Coopers is heading for record annual turnover, boosted by strong summer sales and a new marketing alliance with Budweiser. Coopers Brewery managing director Tim Cooper said on February 4th he was aiming at turnover of more than A$90 million this financial year 2002-03, up from A$81.8 million in 2001-02. Dr Cooper said the benefits of the new distribution and marketing arrangement with Budweiser parent, US brewer Anheuser-Busch, would kick in during the next financial year.

The Premium Beverages joint venture, based in Melbourne, aims to increase Coopers' annual sales of more than three million cases and Budweiser's sales of about 100,000 cases throughout Australia. "We would reassure people it has got nothing to do with Budweiser taking a financial interest in Coopers," Dr Cooper said. However, it did spell a return to focus on US beer markets which accounted for about 20 per cent of Coopers' sales by the end of the 1980s.

Stronger beer sales in Coopers' home state and interstate markets, and improved sales for the home brew and malt extract businesses, are driving sales this year. The move to the $40 million expanded brewery at Regency Park in Adelaide came "in the nick of time," Dr Cooper said. Revamping the company's lager beers and releasing a new beer later this year are on the agenda, Dr Cooper said.

A record profit of $20.2 million for 2001-02 was helped by the sale of Coopers' stake in Adelaide Malting Company to AusBulk last April. Revenue of $124 million achieved in last year's result was inflated by one-off items - including the sale of its former brewery site in Adelaide's eastern suburbs and its stake in Adelaide Malting Company.

In November, another non-core operation - the Leabrook Honey division - was sold to Spring Gully Pickles for an undisclosed sum.

Coopers is the third largest brewer in Australia behind Foster's and Lion Nathan. It makes a range of beers, including Coopers Sparkling Ale, Coopers Pale Ale and Coopers Stout. The company generates about 60 per cent of its sales in South Australia where it controls about 18 per cent of the market.

It has about 2 per cent of the national market, trailing Foster's, which has about 54 per cent, and Lion at 42 per cent.

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