Brewer's Ale Sales Overflow
The Age
Saturday May 1, 2004
Booming demand for its ales around the country has helped Coopers Brewery repay a South Australian Government loan earlier than scheduled.
The unlisted Adelaide-based brewer yesterday announced it had made the final payment on the 10-year, $8 million loan it had secured to build its Regency Park brewery in a former State Transport Authority bus depot.
Coopers managing director Tim Cooper said that since the first brew at the facility in March 2001, sales growth had been well in excess of early estimates and the group was now enjoying one of the strongest growth periods in its 142-year history.
``As a result, we are now in a position to repay the loan far earlier than scheduled," Dr Cooper said.
He said the repayment of other loans to fund construction was also being fast-tracked and all funding for the brewery would be repaid by early next year.
In the three years since the Regency Park brewery opened, beer volumes produced there had risen 38.7 per cent. In the first nine months of 2003-04, Coopers outperformed its rivals in the eastern states and achieved soaring sales in a flat beer market. Coopers' beer sales had soared 16.2 per cent around the country, with sales of kegged beers in the eastern states up by almost 50 per cent.
One of the drivers of its success has been its national distributor, Premium Beverages, a joint venture between Coopers and American Beverage Distributors which has the licence to distribute Budweiser around Australia.
© 2004 The Age
Share This