Leading brewer Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB) announced today that pre-tax profit rose 44.3 per cent to RM51.6 million in its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2010, from RM35.8 million in the same period last year.

Revenue increased 21.8 per cent to RM366.6 million from RM301 million while net profit climbed 44.9 per cent to RM38.7 million from RM26.7 million previously.

The record results marked the company's nine consecutive year of growth in revenue, profit and market share.

In announcing the first-quarter results here, GAB's managing director Charles Ireland said the healthy performance further extended the company's lead in the malt liquor market.

'GAB is well-positioned to continue to perform well with its winning portfolio of brands led by Tiger, Guinness, Heineken, Anchor and Kilkenny,' he told reporters.

Ireland said the first-quarter results were also driven by speculative trading in September amid pre-Budget 2011 in October.

'Our first-quarter results have been driven by our ability to capitalise on key events like the World Cup, where Tiger took the lead, and Arthur's Day, Guinness' global celebrations,' he said.

For the current financial year ending June 30, 2011, Ireland said GAB will work hard to maintain and extend its position to deliver a 10th successive year of growth in revenue, profit and market share.

He said GAB was maintaining its dividend payout of 85 to 90 per cent of net profit.

On capital expenditure, Ireland said GAB is expected to spend more than RM50 million in the current financial year 2011, which would be invested to supply the 'highest quality' beer and stout and to ensure its brewery conformed to international standards of production.

He said GAB would be introducing a new range of products in the malt liquor market in the next six months but was tight-lipped on the number and origin of products except that they involved beer and stout.

On market outlook, Ireland said the government's projection of six per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for next year augured well for the business community.

However, he said the industry continued to operate in a challenging environment and in the long run, would like to see the government aligning the current tax structure with global best practices.

Malaysia's current duty levels on beer and stout is the second highest in the world after Norway.

Ireland said the government should look at global best practices in excise tax structure to assist in revenue tax collection, like in Australia, where the excise duty on beer and spirits is based on the level of alcohol content in a drink. -- Bernama