Bad weather was the main factor behind the decline in beer sales and had an impact on the overall fast moving consumer goods market. Thus, after two consecutive quarters of growth in 2011, which gave hopes for the industry to return to growth, brewers were once again let down.
An analysis of the past few years shows that the first quarter traditionally begins with declines for the beer market, with the first three months of 2010 being the weakest.
EUR300 millions spent on beer
The 2.65 million hectoliters of beer (which would correspond to 265 million liters or over 530 million beer cans) had Romanians spending EUR279 million in the first quarter, ZF calculations show.
Calculations were based on the fact that the price of a liter of beer in retail is EUR0.8 (retail accounts for 72% of the market) and EUR1.7 on the HoReCa segment – which accounts for 28% of the market), according to research by Ernst&Young for 2010.
April and early May are likely to have brought the industry back to growth, but the past few weeks, amid the extremely bad weather, have been hard for brewers.
The largest players on the local beer market are Ursus, Heineken, Bergenbier, URBB (United Romanian Breweries Bereprod) and Romaqua (with Albacher and Dorfer brands).
The financial results announced so far show a stagnation of sales for URBB, which has Tuborg and Carlsberg in its portfolio, as well as for other brewers, in the first quarter of this year against the similar period of 2011, below initial estimates, because of extreme weather conditions in the first two months of the year.
Doron Zilberstein, marketing vicepresident of URBB, however, had previously told ZF that he was optimistic about beer sales this summer, with summer sales percentages expected to weigh heavily in overall sales.
Market leader still posts declines
While URBB’s beer sales are stagnating, market leader Ursus Breweries, a company in the portfolio of SABMiller, still posts decline. For the fiscal year ended March 31 2012, the company recorded an 8% decline.
In 2011, beer consumption stagnated at around 17 million hectoliters and 2012 results seem increasingly dependent on summer sales.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)