Asia Pacific Breweries invests US$ 5 mn here

by Shirajiv Sirimane

Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, (APBL) will invest US$ 5 million to take 60 per cent stake of United Breweries Lanka Limited (UBL). A sum of US$ 2.5 million had been already invested.

Chief Executive Officer APBL, Koh Poh Tiong said that Sri Lanka beer market is annually expanding by 5 to 6 per cent similar to the Lankan economy and they see a major growth in Sri Lanka in the future.

He said that their immediate objective would be to introduce technology to enhance five brands presently being produced by UBL. "We would then look at introducing new brands," he said.

APBL has operations in Singapore, China, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, and their best market is Vietnam. "We control major share of each of these countries and in Sri Lanka too hope to increase our market. We don't consider any market small," he said.

Director United Breweries Lanka Limited, Gladwyn Anandappa, said that they were the first to introduce hard beer to Sri Lanka and that reduced the illicit alcohol consumption.

He said that the tax on beer should be further reduced, as it would further lessen illicit liquor consumption.

APBL profit before interest, taxation and exceptional items PBIT rose 13 per cent to its highest at $ 199.6 million while attributable profit before exceptional items gained 12 per cent, breaking the $ 100 million mark to reach $ 104.8 million.

Group revenue grew by 7 per cent to $ 1.37 billion, with growth achieved in almost all markets. Return on equity, before exceptional items increased form 12.5 per cent to 13.3 per cent, last year.

APBL owns 50 while the remaining 50 per cent stake is held by Asia Pacific Investment, which is jointly owned by Fraser and Neave, Limited and Heineken.