By Stephanie Jacob
Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB) has posted a profit before tax of RM202 million for the first half of financial year 2016 (1H16). This was 16% higher than the RM174 million seen in the previous year’s corresponding period.
Revenue in 1H16 grew marginally by 1.7% to RM930 million from the RM913.9 million seen in 1H15.
Nett profit for the period increased 17.8% to RM154 million in 1H16 from the RM131 million recorded in 1H15.
As for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 for financial year 2016 (2Q16), results also showed growth with revenue rising 0.7% to RM524 million from RM521 million year-on-year.
This translated into profit before tax of RM118 million for 2Q16, up 16% from the RM102 million seen in 2Q15. For 2Q16, nett profit rose 19.3% to RM91 million from RM76.1 million previously.
Hans Essaadi
Speaking to the press, GAB managing director (MD) Hans Essaadi said: “Profit in the last quarter was largely due to our strategic commercial initiatives and taking the ongoing cost management practices t0 the next level.”
Furthermore, the ongoing efforts by the Customs Department to combat the sale of contraband beer also helped GAB, added Essaadi.
Meanwhile, GAB finance director Atul Chhaparwal said that GAB did source some of its materials in the US dollar, however, this was mitigated by the positive impact of the weak ringgit on its exports and therefore there was no impact by foreign exchange.
Looking ahead, Essaadi said: “In view of the challenging year ahead , we will continue to focus on delivering key strategies for the financial year, whilst staying agile to face the changing environment. Backed by a resilient first six months performance, we remain cautiously optimistic about delivering a good performance for financial year 2016.”
Atul Chhaparwal
For 1H16, GAB’s board has declared an single-tier interim dividend of 20 sen and a special dividend of 30 sen per share bringing the total to 50 sen per share. This is to commemorate GAB’s 50th anniversary said Chhaparwal.
The MD said that GAB would continue to innovate to expand and improve its offerings. Over the last six months, the brewery has released four new variants, including Tiger White, which is a wheat beer brewed locally, and Smirnoff Ice Black. While the other two are limited edition seasonal offerings Tiger Radler Mandarin Orange and Strongbow Red Berries.
Essaadi also sought to assure that its popular stout brand Guinness will remain part of its stable of brands, despite the takeover by Heineken late last year. The Guinness brand is owned by Diageo, which had been the previous majority owner of GAB.
Nonetheless, Essaadi emphasised that Guinness will be a part of GAB’s offerings for a long time to come saying that the contract between them and Diageo is meant to last “forever”. He said that both Diageo and GAB were mutually dependent and benefitted from their partnership.
In line with the change in ownership, GAB will change its financial year from June 30 to Dec 31 in line with Heineken’s reporting practices. As such its financial statements for 2016 will be for an 18 month period, from July 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2016.
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