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Seychelles Breweries’ 51st annual general meeting Future looks bright for Seychelles Breweries |07 December 2019

Seychelles Breweries’ 51st annual general meeting     Future looks bright for Seychelles Breweries

Yesterday’s AGM (Photos: Louis Toussaint)

Shareholders of Seychelles Breweries have agreed on a dividend payout of R2.25 per share after making an operating profit of R130 million compared to R64 million in 2018.

The vote was taken yesterday at the Seychelles Breweries’ 51st annual general meeting hosted at Ephelia Resort, Port Launay.

“With the improved performance the board’s intent is to show steady and sustainable dividend payout improvement over the coming years,” Anthony Smith, the chairman said.

Seychelles Breweries has over 1,300 shareholders, of which the majority shareholders are Diageo Group (54.4%), one of the world's largest producers of spirits and beers, and the Seychelles Pension Scheme (24.3%).

Present were its chairman Anthony Smith, managing director Nick Cook, finance director Devesh Dutt and non-executive directors Jean Weeling-Lee and Aubrey Lucas.

Also on the high-table were representatives from auditing company BDO Associates and the company’s secretary PKF Registrars.

The business of the day was to approve minutes of last year’s meeting; to receive directors, audit reports and financial statements of last year ending June 2016; to declare final dividend and to pass ordinary resolutions basically to approve the re-appointments of certain directors and their remunerations.

Shareholders also got the chance to ask for clarifications on the company’s product, SeyBrew Lite, and other pertinent issues.

“Seychelles Breweries remains the only company in Seychelles with a rich and diversified portfolio that spans beer, cider, ready-to-drink, soft-drinks and spirit categories. Our mission is to be the best performing and respected beverage company in the Seychelles,” Mr Smith said, adding that the future looks bright for Seychelles Breweries.

The company has observed a very strong performance with an overall revenue of R422 million, representing a 12.4% increase on last year.

All categories have recorded strong growth over the last year with beer revenue increasing by 9%, soft-drinks by 10%, ready-to-drink by 95% and spirits by 6%.

Mr Smith related the successful launch of the SMASHED campaign in 11 secondary schools, to discourage alcohol consumption amongst youths under the age of 18 years.

The company is however facing fierce competition from non-Diageo licensed companies that are parallel importing spirits such as the Johnnie Walker whisky.

To counter this, Seychelles Breweries will be introducing pocket scotches, tinier and portable alcohol, as well as a tagging system on their bottles to prove that their products are genuine.

Mr Smith revealed that Seychelles Breweries is also working on a second campaign with the police force in regards to drink-driving.

These initiatives, he stressed, form part of Seychelles Breweries’ efforts as a beverage manufacturer to sell and market its products responsibly.

 

Elsie Pointe

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