LATVIA: Beer boom buoys Cesu Alus

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 22 January 2007

Cesu Alus, Latvia's second-largest brewer, has reported a 32% leap in sales for 2006, buoyed by a robust performance from its beer division.

The brewer saw sales volumes jump to 41.7m litres last year, with beer volumes rising 23% to 30m litres, local reports said today (22 January). The group's healthy performance in the beer category saw it take a 20% share of the country's beer market.

The leap in volumes reportedly led to a 26% jump in turnover to LVL11.9m (US$21.9m). In turn, the company saw full-year losses narrow from LTL1m in 2005 to LTL472,000 last year.

Estonian brewer A. Le Coq owns 96% of Cesu Alus. The Estonian group is a subsidiary of Finnish drinks group Olvi Oy.

Sectors: Beer & cider