The sales of the beer brands in URBB’s portfolio were similar to those in the first quarter of 2011. The soft drinks, however, posted 8% decline because of a significant drop in still drinks sales. Sales of juice and nectar drinks, on the other hand, were up over 50% in volume, said Doron Zilberstein, marketing vice-president of URBB.
URBB is among the largest local brewers, and its portfolio also includes Skol, Holsten and other beer brands besides Tuborg and Carlsberg.
The results in the first three months of the year were below estimates and the company says this was because of the very bad weather in the first two months, when sales were down 11% according to ZF’s calculations based on the International Statistics Institute data. The brewer, however, is optimistic about the sales in the summer, which usually is a very good time of the year for business, Zilberstein said.
The company posted 311 million lei (EUR71 million) sales in 2011, according to ZF’s calculations, which took into account an 8% growth. Volume-wise, the growth stood at 6%. The 2011 results were below initial expectations of 10% growth in sales volume.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)