25
Sales of Green Sands shandy and soft
drinks developed satisfactorily. The enter
prise has breweries at Medan, Tangerang
and Surabaya. In the Surabaya brewery
a start was made on the building of a
new cellar complex to replace the old
cellars.
Malayan Breweries Ltd., with activities
in Singapore, Papua New Guinea,
Malaysia and New Zealand, achieved a
further improvement in earnings during
the year under review. The increase in
earnings in Papua New Guinea made a
substantial contribution to this. In
Singapore and Malaysia, too, there was
a satisfactory trend of earnings.
The economy in Singapore showed a
slight improvement, but this did not yet
lead to a recovery of the beer market.
The construction of the brewery to
replace two existing breweries is making
good progress. The brewery is expected
to be completed in mid-1989.
Following the decline in the previous
year, the sharply fluctuating beer market
in Malaysia again showed an increase.
Malayan Breweries was only partly able
to benefit from this. To improve the com
petitive position Tiger beer, the leading
brand in Singapore, was launched.
In Papua New Guinea the beer sales of
South Pacific Brewery Ltd., an affiliate
of Malayan Breweries, were higher than
in the previous year. The good coffee
crop led to an improvement in purchasing
power, as a result of which the beer
Beer sales in Asia/Australia/Oceania market in this country showed a growth,
(in millions of hectolitres) Sales of soft drinks were again higher.
In New Caledonia there was a further
increase in sales of both beer and soft
drinks by Grande Brasserie de Nouvelle-
Calédonie S.A. It was decided to add a
can-filling line to the brewery.
In Australia our sales fell as a result of
the economic recession, but we were
I amply able to maintain our position as
2.4 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.4 market leader in the import segment.
In the People's Republic of China we
have not yet succeeded in finding projects
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 which satisfy our criteria for participation.
The co-operation with Chia Tai has not
yet led to the desired results.
In Japan Heineken beer is brewed under
licence by Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. The
steady growth of sales continued in 1987.
In 1987 our minority interest Jordan
Brewery Ltd., in Jordan, was merged
with General Investment Co. Ltd., under
which name the enterprise is being con
tinued. Sales of Amstel beer remained
at virtually the same level as the previous
year.
Exports of Heineken beer to the Far East
rose substantially. There was a further
growth in market share in Hong Kong.
As a result of the liberalization of imports
with effect from January 1, 1987,
Heineken has now also been introduced
in Taiwan.
Exports to the Middle East were under
pressure as a result of the strong position
of the guilder in relation to local
currencies.
Prospects
The policy is aimed at further develop
ment and strengthening of the enterprise.
This is being done in Europe, amongst
other things, by means of continual ratio
nalization and modernization of the pro
duction facilities as well as by expansion
of our interests. In markets where there
is little or no rise in total beer consump
tion, we are endeavouring to strengthen
our position by making use of market
segmentation and by improving margins.
In growth markets we are seeking to
strengthen our position by autonomous
growth or by acquisitions.
It is expected that in 1988 an amount of
N.fl. 750 million will be spent on invest
ments for the purpose of expansion and
replacement of tangible fixed assets.
These investments can be financed from
the cash flow, from the liquid resources
available and, where appropriate, by the
raising of funds in local currency. In
addition, the increase in our interest in