GAB posts higher profit on better pricing, brand mix

by **Cals** Sun 16 Nov 2014, 23:57

GAB posts higher profit on better pricing, brand mix

Saturday, 15 November 2014

PETALING JAYA: Guinness Anchor Bhd’s (GAB) net profit for its first quarter ended Sept 30, rose 10% to RM54.6mil from RM49.62mil a year earlier, mainly driven by higher sales as a result of improved pricing and brand mix.
Revenue, meanwhile, increased to RM393.16 from RM325,79mil a year earlier. The company’s earnings per share grew to 18.07 sen compared with 16.43 sen previously.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, GAB said earnings also benefitted from the Government’s measures against contraband beers and the slight improvement of consumer sentiments.
“Profit from operations was lower than revenue growth mainly due to higher excise duty and sales tax payments. As mentioned earlier, the increase in excise duty and sales tax payments is due to a new valuation method for excise duty put in place by the Customs which took effect from Nov 1, 2013.
“Profit from operations was also lower than revenue growth because of the increase of commercial investments compared with same quarter last year,” the company said.
For profit from operations, GAB said there was a 13% growth when compared with the previous quarter due to cost efficiencies as well as lower commercial spend.
GAB managing director Hans Essaadi said in a statement that the company had delivered a strong set of results with double-digit top-line and bottom-line growth after a tough fiscal year.
“This strong growth is attributed to our core portfolio of renowned brands as well as the successful introduction of our innovation brands and line-extensions.”
On its prospects, GAB said it remained cautiously optimistic for the remaining period of the fiscal year.