Wine portfolio drives NBL revenues up with 19% increase

A strong growth in the wine, cider and spirits portfolio drove Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) to a 19% increase to N$4.057 billion for the period ended 30 June.

This is contained in a statement of condensed consolidated interim financial results
issued by NBL spokesperson Surihe Gaomas-Guchu yesterday.

The statement attributed the good performance to market share gains in beer.

“Over the period, NBL delivered well on its strategy for the Heineken transaction, as the company’s diverse portfolio experienced volume growth in all beverage categories,” says the statement.

It added that during the second half of the year, the company’s contributions from South Africa showed improvement, while export revenue slowed.

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,” reads the statement.

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.

This positive financial growth was achieved through NBL’s emphasis on the fundamentals of its core business, while the acquired portfolio benefited from improved numeric distribution, effective price management, sustainable cost management as well as integrated planning and supply process.

NBL managing director Peter Simons says: “As a Namibian business dedicated to boosting the local economy, we’ve made great performance milestones. Among these include N$1.6 billion total corporate taxes, customs and excise paid out last year, 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.”