Buoyant Brain's brews up 12.5% turnover rise

Wales brewer and retailer SA Brain has boosted turnover by 12.5% to £121.6m thanks to strong growth in beer volumes and a contribution from 27 pubs acquired from Innkeeper Wales last year.

Profit before tax rose by 35% to £11m with a £2m contribution from property sales - underlying profit was up by around 14%.

The brewer's bitter saw volumes up 6% in a Welsh market for cask beer down by 6% or 7%.

Overall, ale volumes were up 7% with help from the newly-launched Brain's Smooth Extra Cold.

The brewer is now producing around 175,000 barrels a year including contract work.

Brain's chief executive Scott Waddington said: "A number of our key strategic aims came positively into focus this year.

"The brand is rapidly becoming identified as the leading Welsh beer brand and sales of our ales continue to increase in a declining market, resulting in a growth in market share.

"We are seeing a good return on our investment in improving the quality of the estate in terms of higher earnings.

"This year has also seen an improvement in our contract brewing operation, with more business secured from national brewers."

The company's sponsorship of the Welsh Rugby Union during the 2005 Grand Slam season has accelerated the awareness of the brand, particularly across Wales, with a combination of in-house promotions, advertising and PR campaigns.

The firm also renewed its commitment to Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

Its managed pubs division delivered strong year-on-year profit growth of 6.5% with 20 pubs transferred to tenancy.

New lease arrangements were introduced in the company's tenanted pub division, which grew sales and profits by 7% in the year.

The new leases have been designed to increase the commercial motivation of tenants and the focus for the future will be to invest in the estate

and adapt to the changing legislative environment.

Waddington estimated a 40% increase in utility costs would add around £150,000 to brewing costs in the coming year.

"Despite caution over trading conditions for the coming year, we believe our strategy of focusing on key areas will continue to deliver growth as we strengthen our long-term position in core marketplaces," he added.