Consolidated Breweries Plc has recorded a 14 per cent rise in its turnover for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The company’s turnover, which stood at N24.5bn the preceding year, rose by N3.4bn or 14 per cent to N27.9bn in the year under consideration.

A statement by the company on Friday stated that its profit after tax, however, fell by 18 per cent to N2.6bn in 2011, down from N3.2bn recorded a year earlier.

The Chairman of the company, Prof. (Mrs.) Oyin Odutola-Olurin, was quoted in the statement as saying that the decline in the company’s profit was due to the stagnating volume growth and increased operational costs.

She added that this was occasioned by the severe operating environment in the country during the period under review.

She said, ‘’We rely heavily on generators to power our breweries and the attendant costs of operations always affect our profitability. The country’s road network still leaves a lot to be desired, resulting in frequent breakdown of our trucks and adding to the already high transportation cost.”

Despite this, however, she said the company proposed a total dividend package of N3.25 per share to its shareholders for the 2011 financial year, which was approved during its annual general meeting.

Odutola-Olurin noted that the total payout was made up of an interim dividend of N1 per share and a full year dividend of N2.25 per share.

Hoping that 2012 would be a promising year, she said the company had, with effect from January 3, 2012, acquired a majority shareholding in Champion Breweries Plc, stressing that the result of the 57 per cent acquisition would be consolidated into the financial statements of 2012.

‘’We are, however, confident that as we continue to grow our markets as well as regain share from our competitors, the results will improve in the foreseeable future and our shareholders will receive better returns on their investment.”

Meanwhile, trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed the week on a negative note, with major stocks closing lower.

The NSE weekly report showed that a total of 35 stocks recorded price depreciation compared to 23 that gained.

Source: Punch/Udeme Ekwere