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¡¡¡¡BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - Tsingtao Brewery , the largest beer maker in
China, booked a 10 percent increase in sales volume and sales revenue in 2005,
and the company expects double-digit profit growth in 2006, its president said
on Monday.
¡¡¡¡"I imagine profits rose by double
digits in 2005 and we are confident of
the same pace in 2006," Jin Zhiguo, who is also the company's vice chairman,
told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of China's parliament.
¡¡¡¡Tsingtao, in which Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. owns a 27 percent stake, will
report results in April. Jin cautioned his figures were unaudited.
¡¡¡¡Founded a century ago by German investors in the port city of Qingdao,
Tsingtao commands 13 percent of China's fragmented beer market.
¡¡¡¡In Beijing, where Tsingtao competes with Yanjing Beer, market share rose to
about 20 percent from about 5 percent during the course of 2005, Jin said.
¡¡¡¡He predicted prices of barley, a main ingredient for making beer, would
remain stable.
¡¡¡¡"As long as there is no natural disaster, global barley supplies should be
enough for global demand," Jin said.
¡¡¡¡"France, Australia and Canada should be able to meet China's demand, and in
Xinjiang they are also starting to grow barley commercially," Jin said.
¡¡¡¡The Chinese government is increasingly conscious of the limitations that
polluted water and other environmental damage puts on its rapidly growing
economy. Jin urged central planners to shut companies that don't meet
environmental standards.
¡¡¡¡Making Tsingtao's plants environmentally compliant adds up to 10-15 percent
of the cost of a new brewery, and 30-35 percent of the cost of renovating a
brewery, Jin said.
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