CHAMWE KAIRA
In the condensed consolidated interim financial results for the period ended 30 June, Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) said over the period, the company delivered well on its strategy for the Heineken transaction, as the company’s diverse portfolio experienced volume growth in all beverage categories.
At the same time, NBL said it continued to manage cash efficiently given high capital expenditures, higher debt levels, and challenging market conditions.
In the coming six months, Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) plans to continue optimising the combined brands, infrastructure and people.
According to the company, synergies will further boost margins and balance the effects of price sensitivity on revenue, and an expanding data set will allow the business to predict future competitive market trends and seize new growth opportunities.
Net revenue increased by 19.8% to just over N$4 billion due to strong growth in the wine, cider and spirits portfolio, coupled with market share gains in beer. During the second half of the year, the company’s contributions from South Africa showed improvement, while export revenue slowed.
In addition, fixed cost ratios improved, brought about by the integrated businesses of Distell and NBL. The expanded portfolio provided more opportunities to meet consumer needs, while the company’s operating profit increased by 10.6% to N$466 million compared to N$421 million in 2023.
Net profit after tax declined by over 90% year-on-year, primarily due to significant one-off gains in 2023 from the sale of shares in Heineken South Africa. Excluding these gains, normalised profit after tax, measured by headline earnings per share, saw a 3.3% decrease, attributed to increased financing and taxation costs.
NBL’s strong focus on the fundamentals of its core business enabled it to achieve this positive financial growth, while the acquired portfolio benefitted from improved numeric distribution, effective price management, sustainable cost management, and integrated planning and supply processes.
NBL’s managing director, Peter Simons, stated: “As a Namibian business dedicated to boosting the local economy, we’ve made great performance milestones. Among these are N$1.6 billion total corporate taxes, customs and excise paid out last year, and capital of N$337 million invested into the commissioning of our new wine packaging line. A total of N$44 million was invested to improve existing packaging lines, extended our warehouse to the tune of N$56 million and to grow the capacity of our workforce, a further N$3.2 million was spent in the development and training.”
Currently, NBL has a portfolio of 58 brands, of which 11 are produced in Namibia and exported to 12 destinations.
