Belvedere revenues up 23% due to Bulgarian wine sales

Belvedere Dystrybucja, a Polish subsidiary of the French alcohol manufacturer and trader Belvedere, increased its turnover to zl.112.8 million in the fourth quarter last year, up by 79.4% compared to 1999. At the end of 2000 its revenue reached zl. 255.4 million, 23% more than in the previous year. These encouraging results are due to the purchase of a majority stake in the Polish company Cris Vin-Niko, an importer of wine from Bulgaria, particularly the Sophia and Ciociosan brands. Thus, although Belvedere Dystrybucja is not very successful at selling vodka, it does very well in the wine market. However, investors in the Paris Bourse do not trust these results, since in the first half of 2000 the company was zl.10.5 million in the red and its current share price is about euro 11, as compared to euro 62 at the end of 1999. The Belvedere management has attributed the losses to low sales levels of its Sobieski brand vodka.(Puls Biznesu, p.6) M. S.-C.