35.
The recent peace process in the centre of Africa
is providing stability, and there were significant
new infrastructure investments in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi and the Republic of
Congo. Our operations in those countries benefited
from this: in 2005 we re-opened a brewery that
had been mothballed almost a decade ago in the
Democratic Republic of Congo and we built up a
new bottling line in Burundi to meet rising demand.
Our top accomplishments in the region in 2005
were the complete review of our brand portfolio
with a repositioning of some brands), and the
achievement of efficiencies in production, especially
in Nigeria.
During the year, we successfully introduced
DraughtKeg in South Africa and the Republic
f Congo, La Réunion, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Guinea
id Benin. 2005 was the first full operational year
or Brandhouse, our sales and distribution joint
jnture with Diageo and Namibian Breweries
i South Africa, which performed satisfactorily,
teineken has also increased our commitment
to the Middle East region. We converted our stake
i Tempo, Israel, into a joint venture and extended
ie presence of our brands throughout North Africa.
In December 2005 a shooting incident took place
on the island of La Réunion during the Heineken
Christmas party. The whole of the Heineken business
was saddened by the death of Frank Stultjens,
Finance Director of Brasseries de Bourbon, who
lost his life due to serious injuries incurred during
this incident. In him we have lost a committed
and social employee, whose genuine, positive and
dedicated personality we shall always remember
with great respect.
Nigeria
Total beer volume 5.4 million hectolitres
Market share 60 percent
Market position 1st
Thanks to the initiatives taken on the basis of
a brand portfolio review in Nigeria and two price
increases in 2004, we saw significant growth in
both revenues and EBIT. As a result of the price
increases, volumes fell by 5 percent, although
the better price mix more than compensated for
this. Revenues grew by 11.4 percent, while EBIT
improved substantially year-on-year. EBIT was also
boosted by the reorganisation of the breweries,
which now have a more flexible cost structure.
Volumes of our mainstream brand, Star fell as
a result of the price increases.
Heineken N.V. - Annual Report 2005
