E-Malt.com News article: Romania: Albacher beer delivers good results in the first quarter of 2009

Romanian beer and soft drinks maker Romaqua group said the biggest contribution to the company's turnover will be brought by Albacher beer, launched on the market in the spring of 2008, Ziarul Financiar daily reported on May, 7.

"Volumes of bottled beer in the first three months are over 6% above the results of the first quarter of 2008," Mihaela Draghich, the company’s communication manager, specified.

The company counts on a turnover advance by around 50%, in RON, from 2008, on a market that in the first quarter was hurt by consumption declines on the mineral water and beer segments.

The group's consolidated turnover last year reached 478m RON (130m euros), up 45% from 2007, with the biggest contribution to this advance having been brought by the launch of the first beer brand in its portfolio, Albacher.

2009 is the first year when Romaqua is freezing investments in group development, after in the past three years the cumulated value of these investments topped EUR50-60 mln.

The group's biggest investment project, worth EUR40 mln, was finalised in mid-2008 with the opening of Sebes brewery, which allowed the producer to enter a new market. For the first year, Romaqua wants to reach a 4-5% share of the beer market.

The main stakeholders in Romaqua Group are Octavian Cretu and Nicolae Palfi. They hold together 90% of stock, with the rest being divided between several persons, including group employees.



08 May, 2009