Czech Republic: Kralovsky Pivovar Krusovice ups profit by over CZK 46 million in 2005

Czech brewer Kralovsky Pivovar Krusovice recorded a net profit of CZK 166.2 million last year, a growth of more than CZK 46 million year-on-year, CEO and board of directors deputy chairman Pavel Gregoric told CTK on April 21, according to The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE.

It was the highest profit since 1992 when Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice was transformed into a joint-stock company. Shareholders will decide on its distribution at a regular general meeting in May. "The company made a record-high profit thanks to an exceptional growth in exports," Gregoric said.

Kralovsky Pivovar Krusovice exported more than 374,000 hectolitres of beer last year, up from around 154,000 hectolitres in 2004, to 25 countries. The company's largest buyer was Germany, followed by Russia and Slovakia. Among its overseas buyers were Australia and the US, for instance.

Beer output rose by around 182,000 hectolitres to 872,000 hectolitres. Output increased for the second time since 1997, when the company produced around 1 million hectolitres of beer.

The company's shareholders elected new members of the board of directors and the supervisory board at an extraordinary general meeting today.

Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice is in the hands of Germany's Radeberger Gruppe, an arm of the Oetker Group, which holds 99.83 percent of its shares.

In August last year, Radeberger squeezed out the company's small shareholders to whom it paid CZK 1,889 per a share worth a nominal CZK 750 and CZK 2,518 per a CZK 1,000 share.

Kralovsky pivovar Krusovice was founded in the sixteenth century and is one of the oldest Czech breweries. It has around 300 staff.