East African Breweries' CEO sees fast growth being maintained this year | Investing Home

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya's East Africa Breweries expects to grow robustly this financial year this year in the economy at home and in the economy and a new brewery start to pay off, its chief executive said on Friday.

The brewer, which is controlled by Britain's Diageo is known for its Tusker beer, said its net sales grew by 10 percent in its second half to the end of June, the fastest pace in six years.

"We will continue the growth momentum that we started in the second half," CEO group Andrew Cowan told Reuters after a news conference.

Sales of beers and spirits recovered in Kenya, which contributes to 73 percent of annual income.

The economy almost ground to a halt between presidential vote and presidential vote.

"We had political stability and the economy recovered in their pockets again," Cowan said, referring to the second half.

The group's sales were also boosted by a strong performance by the Tanzania market, which contributed 11 percent of revenue, which posted 41 percent sales growth to Serengeti beer, a mainstream brand.

Sales in Uganda, where the company reported 16 percent revenue, grew by 4 percent.

EABL was investing millions of dollars in new brewing tanks at its Tanzania plant, Cowan said, to take advantage of the consumer demand there.

EABL is also benefiting from a $ 1 billion shilling ($ 9.97 million) in new brewery Nairobi brewery, which was installed late last year.

The company is producing some international spirits like Captain Morgan rum.

A new $ 150 million brewery in the Kenyan city of Kisumu will start production of EABL's Senator Keg beer, a low-priced lager made from locally grown sorghum, later this year, Cowan said.

"We think we will be selling Kisumu region and the west of Kenya before Christmas," he said.

The main challenge facing the company was illegal brews, which account for 50 percent of the alcohol market in Kenya, EABL said.

($ 1 = 100,3500 Kenyan shillings)