Egypt’s Al Ahram Beverages (ABC) recorded net profits of 92.2 million Egyptian Pounds ($20 million) for the year 2001, compared to EP112.9 million for the year 2000, an 18 percent drop, reported Al-Alam Al-Yaum.
The company’s profit drop came despite a 21 percent increase in sales, which totaled EP425 million in 2001, up from EP350 million in the previous year. ABC Chairman Ahmed Al-Zayat, attributed the losses to the drop in Egyptian tourism following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
ABC produces alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer, soft drinks and malt extracts. The company became publicly held in 1997 and soon after became a model of privatization in Egypt by modernizing production and improving quality control measures. In 1999 the group launched a new alcoholic beer called El Dorado Shandy Beer and acquired the Nile Brewery Company. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
