China: Heineken co-owned Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. will invest RMB 400 million in Foshan brewery

Chinese beer maker Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. has signed an agreement to invest RMB 400 million in a new brewery in the southern province of Guangdong, China Knowledge released November 03. The new brewery located in Foshan City will boost the company’s total annual production capacity to 1.7 million t.

The Foshan plant, Kingway’s fifth in Guangdong and eighth in the Mainland, will start production only a year after construction completes.

The plant will contribute 200,000 t of beer a year in Guangdong, where Kingway currently produces 1.1 million t and has a 20% market share.

Kingway, the second-largest brewer in Guangdong, saw net profit decline by 12% to HK$71 million in the first half of this year due to pre-operating expenses for new plants.

The Hong Kong-listed company, in which Dutch brewer Heineken owns a 21% stake, plans to raise sales volume by 30% to 700,000 t this year. Targets of 1 million t next year and 1.5 million t in 2008 have also been set.

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