Delta's Volumes Decline Due To Increase In Excise Duty, Inflation

National Breweries (Natbrew), a unit of Delta Corporation, recorded a 16 per cent decline in its volumes in the year to March 2022, leading to an 18 per cent revenue contraction.

According to The Herald, Natbrew produces, packages and markets traditional sorghum beer products in Zambia. Popular variants of its opaque beer are Chibuku Shake-Shake and Chibuku Super. The company said in a statement accompanying the results:

Volume performance in the current year was affected by the decline of informal exports of Chibuku Super, the increase in excise and general product prices and Covid-19 restrictions which affected product availability in the market.

Natbrew said it will continue to intensify efforts to drive volume growth by offering quality and competitively priced products to its consumers.

In the period under review, the company’s revenue declined from US$16.76 million in 2020 to US$13.55 million in 2021.

The decline was attributed to the increased raw material prices in the second half of the year, limited access to the market as a result of COVID-19-induced lockdowns and the resurgence of competition from other bulk beer offerings that do not comply with excise/VAT.

The company ended the year with an operational loss of US$5 million, compared to US$9.8 million the previous year. Similarly, the company reported a loss after tax of US$7 million and a loss per share of US$0.11, compared to US$11.29 million and US$0.11 the previous year.

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