Czech Republic: West Bohemian brewer Plzensky Prazdroj ups profit 15 pct
Plzensky Prazdroj raised net profit by 15 percent year-on-year to CZK 3.38 billion in the fiscal year from April 1, 2005 till March 31, 2006, CEO Mike Short told journalists, The Prague Daily Monitor posted May 23.
Sales grew by 4 percent to CZK 13.55 billion, Short said.
The company this year expects to pay around the same dividends as last year, he added.
Plzensky paid out more than CZK 1.96 billion in dividends from profits made in the fiscal year ending in March 2005, the same amount as a year earlier.
Operating profit increased by 11 percent on the year to CZK 4.62 billion.
Plzensky sold 10.2 million hectolitres of beer from January to December 2005, up 500,000 hectolitres year-on-year.
Sales abroad added 29 percent to 2.2 million hectolitres, while sales on the Czech market remained the same. In the past fiscal year, beer sales grew 2.5 percent to 10.2 million hectolitres.
Plzensky saw a growth mainly in the sales of premium brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Velkopopovicky Kozel. Velkopopovicky Kozel is sold in 22 countries, mainly in Europe, and has grown popular above all in Russia where its sales soared by 55 percent, Short said.
Sales abroad, which include exports and licensed production, were 21 percent higher year-on-year. The main buyers were Germany, the US and Slovakia, said Short, adding Plzensky plans to expand production in Hungary and Russia.
This year's results should again be slightly better, Short said without further details but added that Plzensky does not rule out further price hikes. The company last raised beer prices in February.
Plzensky invested more than CZK 2 billion last year. Part of the investment was transferred into this year and used mainly for the construction of a new bottling plant worth CZK 1 billion in the Plzen facility which will be launched in October.
Plzensky runs three breweries in Plzen, Nosovice and Velke Popovice, and 13 distribution centres. It has more than 2,500 staff.
Since end-2005, it has been fully owned by SABMiller, the second largest brewing group in the world.
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