Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) says it generated N$1.82 billion in revenues from local beer product sales for the financial year ended 30 June 2022, a 6.6% decline from N$1.95 billion revenues recorded for the same period last year.
The Namibian Stock Exchange-listed firm’s net revenue increased by 14.1% to N$ 3.021 billion. This growth was predominately a result of the growth in volumes to South Africa, a 35% increase in royalty income from Heineken SA, as well as price increases taken in the local market.
NBL’s South African beer volumes increased by 60.6%, with revenues up 95.5% to N$$907.7 million in the period under review.
“Overall sales volumes increased by 12% from the prior financial year. This growth is attributed to a large extent due to an increase in volume growth and demand from South Africa, specifically for the Windhoek brand. Namibian beer volumes declined by 1.5% as inflationary pressure across all sectors of the Namibian economy continued to stretch consumers’ disposable income,” the brewer said on Friday.
NBL added that volumes to export countries increased by 17% for the period, with Botswana revenues tanking by 96.5%.
“Considering the impact on consumer’s disposable income, a shift in certain consumer trends, as well as cross-category consumption trends, NBL has shown exceptional resilience and an overall great operational and financial performance during its 2022 financial year.
“This resulted in operating profit increasing by 8.9% to the prior year. Excellent volume growth, specifically the Windhoek brand produced at NBL and exported to South Africa, together with sound cost management, delivered strong results for NBL, despite a decline in Namibian beer volumes. Our Windhoek Draught brand continues to show exceptional growth within Namibia’s mainstream beer category,” NBL Managing Director (MD), Marco Wenk said.
In the period under review, NBL recorded a 42.8% growth in after tax profit to N$540 million.
Windhoek Draught maintained its strong position as Namibia’s leading beer brand, showing continued demand and growth, while Heineken delivered good growth in the Namibian premium beer segment.
“The results have not yet surpassed ’19 levels, indicating NBS has not fully recovered from COVID-19 restrictions,” said securities research firm Cirrus Capital.
