East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has announced a net profit of Ksh. 6.6 billion for the half year ending 31 December 2018. This represents a 33% rise in net profit compared to Ksh. 4.95 billion in the same period last year.
Additionally, net sales grew 13% to stand at Ksh. 41.6 billion up from Ksh. 36.8 billion in 2017. This was fueled by growth in net sales in Kenya and Uganda which increased by 12% while Tanzania was up 26%. Beer registered a 12% growth largely driven by the performance of Senator Keg in Kenya, improved mix of products in Uganda and great performance of Serengeti in Tanzania.
EABL Group CEO, Andrew Cowan, said: “We have delivered a solid set of results and we are pleased with this half-year performance. We have made progress against our performance ambition, delivering broad-based growth across regions and categories. There is still a lot more to do across all our markets, but this half-year performance proves that we can get there if we continue to focus on strategic execution across our business.”
Spirits net sales grew 17% which was driven by mainstream spirits. The growth in mainstream spirits was as a result of from increased investments in spirits capacity in Kenya with the launch of such products such as Captain Morgan Gold.
Reflecting on the half-year ahead, Mr Cowan said: “In the last financial year, we deliberately invested behind our performance ambition through a step-change in our investments behind brands, capital expenditure and capability to sustain future growth momentum. With our new brewery set to become fully operational soon, we expect to provide more and better drinking options, expanding our beverage alcohol universe further.”
The EABL Board of Directors have recommended an interim dividend of Kshs 2.50 per share for the half-year period. This represents a 25% increase, compared to the same period last year.