Żywiec posts record profit but KP remains No.1 brewer

"The operating profits grew by 22%, from zł.372 million to zł.452 million. These are record high results for Grupa Żywiec, which prove that our strategy is the correct one," said Hans Van Zon, Grupa Żywiec president. The company paid out a dividend to the shareholders worth zł.340 million, which makes zł.30 per share. Żywiec branded beer have increased sales by 3% to reach zł.2.86 billion. The sales volume however increased only by 1% and amounted to 10.3 million hectoliters, as compared to the 2005 sector growth of 5%. In this relation the result is not good enough to catch up with the company's main rival Kompania Piwowarska (KP), which sold 11 million hectoliters of beer, which is 12.6% more than in 2004. Grupa Żywiec representatives did not want to reveal what are the assumptions for the current year. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 8) A.K.