Champion Breweries' Profit Rises by 63.3%
Stories by Uche Obike and Olabisi Lawal
There are indications that Champion Breweries Plc, a quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is now set to reward shareholders with improved returns on the investments in the firm.
The company's audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2003, revealed an impressive growth by 63.3 per cent or N40.6 million in its profit after tax from N64.1 million in 2002 to N104.7 million in 2003.
Also, the company's turnover rose by 20.3 per cent or N172 million, from N848.6 million in 2002 to N1.02 billion in 2003.
The company's return to increasing profitability may not have come as a surprise judging by the fact that its proactive board and management had put in place the enabling facilities for efficient productivity and aggressive marketing strategy.
It could be recalled that the Chairman of Champion Breweries, Mr. Obong Cyril Nta said last year when received the prestigious Pearl award that it came as a result of the successful reactivation and repositioning of the company.
"We take the award as a popular endorsement of our efforts and vision for the company," he said.
He paid glowing tribute to "the untiring efforts of all those who have worked hard these past three years, to make Champion Breweries what it is today."
"In this regard, permit me to particularly acknowledge with appreciation the commitment and entrepreneurship of the Core Investor, Mr. A. K. Mirchandani; the support and contributions of the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Arch. (Obong) Victor Attah; the support and encouragement of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) before and after the reactivation; the advice and support of our financial advisers, TransAfrica Financial Services Limited and Afribank International Limited (Merchant Bankers); the commitment and sacrifices of the board, management and staff, and more importantly, I want to specially express our immense thanks to our distributors and consumers, whose loyalty and patronage have made it possible for us to be here today," Nta said.
He assured Nigerians that "We have laid the right foundation for the growth of the company. Ownership has been restructured; enabling management to be wholly private sector driven."
He expressed joy that the company has returned to the capital market and hope to continuously learn from its interactions with operators.
He explained that these impressive figures were positive indicators the company was determined to sustain the profit growth despite the tough operating environment.
The company's new strategic vision and initiatives showed that its goal was to make Champion Lager Beer a national brand.
The company has embarked on the upgrading of its production facilities to meet the growing demand of its products, while it has started to strengthen its managerial capacities through training and retraining of personnel to meet the growing challenges of the industry.
Although, the process of expanding its existing installed capacity is in progress, the company plans to build satellite plants in other parts of the country for the production of Champion Lager Beer to facilitate a more effective distribution of the product.
Also, we learnt that the company has concluded plans to reintroduce its nonalcoholic malt beverage into the market which will enhance its productmix and improve total market share.
The company has also installed and integrated strategic hitech plants and machinery with capabilities to process 100 per cent local raw material.
The company was incorporated as a private limited liability company on July 31, 1974 under the name South East Breweries Limited. Because of political imperatives in Nigeria, the company's name was changed from South East Breweries Limited to Cross River Breweries Limited and thereafter to Champion Breweries Limited. The latter name, Champion Breweries Limited was changed to Champion Breweries Plc on September 1, 1992 and it was subsequently quoted and its shares traded on the Exchange.
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