British-born Gary Whitlie, 54, took over as president of Ursus Breweries in June last year, having previously been general manager of Dreher Breweries, the Hungarian subsidiary of the SABMiller group, for a year and a half.
Whitlie’s term at the helm of Ursus Breweries has been the shortest in the last seven-eight years, with Stephan Maria Weber and Dieter Schulze staying at least three years in Romania.
Last year, Ursus Breweries, which remained leader by turnover, reported EUR20 million in loss, the widest loss recorded by a top-5 company in the industry. A year before the company had reported net earnings of nearly EUR5 million.
The turnover of Ursus Breweries fell 2% (in lei terms) last year, to EUR280 million. The results are similar to the industry’s evolution in terms of volume. The beer industry reported a 3.5% decline.
Only two of the brewers, Heineken and Romaqua, managed to boost their turnovers last year and were the only ones to post net profit at the end of 2010.
Although the company does not provide information on the sales dynamic this year, in its latest report SABMiller says Ursus Breweries recorded a 3% decline in the volume of sales between April and June 2011 against the similar period of 2010.
These results, which correspond to the first quarter of the fiscal year, show that Ursus has not been able to leave decline behind, given that in the financial year between April 2010 and March 2011, the brewer reported an 8% drop in volumes sold.
The year and a few months with Gary Whitlie at the helm of Ursus Breweries coincides with the decision to close down the Cluj beer plant, one of the oldest in Romania, with an over 130-year history. The management cited “high costs of operating the facility” as reasons for its closure.
Previously, the group had closed down the Azuga production facility, with more than 300 people affected by these reorganization measures. In Cluj, Ursus built a mini-brewery and a restaurant on the plot where the former plant had been, following an investment of over EUR1 million.
The new president of Ursus Breweries will be Andrew Highcock as of November 1. He will join the Romanian producer after being general manager of Pivovary Topvar, the Slovak subsidiary part of the SABMiller group.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)