Harare – Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed beverage maker, Delta Corporation’s revenue increased by 33 percent (30% organic growth) for the quarter and 37 percent for the half year respectively driven by the volume growth in the beer businesses.
Delta said the growth in revenue has positively impacted on profitability and cash flows.
Lager beer volume grew by 52 percent over prior year for the quarter and is up 54 percent for the six months.
“The business has responded well to the surge in demand, with volume outturn surpassing historical peaks. There are some frictional shortages of brands and packs occasioned by the limited production capacity and raw material supply issues,” it said.
In the period under review the Sorghum beer volume in Zimbabwe grew by 9 percent above prior year for the quarter and 2 percent for the six months.
Delta said there was an improvement in the supply of packaging materials for Chibuku Super.
“The production capacity for Chibuku Super is now fully extended whilst that for standard Chibuku is limited by the shortages of Scud bottles.”
The beverage maker, said its National Breweries Pie - Zambia (Natbrew Pie) recorded a volume growth of 13 percent, in response to the volume recovery initiatives which focus on packs and competitive pricing.
During the period under review the Sparkling beverages volume declined by 14 percent compared to prior year for the quarter and grew by 3 percent for the six months.
The category was adversely affected by the challenges in securing imported raw materials, leading to extended periods.
Delta noted that the business performance reflects the relative impact of the import content requiring hard currency in each business segment.
It said consumer demand has been firm due to increased economic activity in mining and agriculture, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies and the election related spending hence the Company has maintained stable retail prices since 2013.
Additionally, Delta Corporation said post the end of the reporting period, the fiscal and monetary policy pronouncements have been dampened by the currency policy statements which seem to contradict the previous undertakings by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on the multi currency framework.
Moreover, the 2 percent transaction tax took both business and consumers by surprise, raising policy risks and undermining market confidence.
It warned that Government and regulators are urged to engage stakeholders ahead of major policy pronouncements in order to maintain market confidence.
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