By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE – SABMiller’s Zimbabwean affiliate Delta Corporation said on Tuesday its annual lager beer sales fell 17 percent, the second consecutive year volumes have tumbled as consumer spending wanes in a shrinking economy.
Delta, Zimbabwe’s largest listed company, said it was also affected by cheaper imports from neighbouring states whose currencies are weakening against the U.S. dollar, Zimbabwe’s official currency.
“We report a mixed performance across the beverage categories in an environment of a contracting economy,” the company said in a trading update for the year-ended March.
Soft drinks volumes fell by 6 percent but sales of sorghum beer grew as consumers shifted to cheaper alternatives.
Delta is 38 percent owned by global brewing giant SABMiller and will publish its full-year results on May 14.
The government forecasts growth this year of 3.2 percent, but analysts say weak commodity prices, patchy rainfall this season and company closures as a result of cheap imports and high interest rates will curtail the economy’s growth. Reuters
