Harare - SABMiller’s Zimbabwe-based unit Delta Corporation will report a 17% decline in its 2015 full-year lager beer volumes, the company has said.
“Lager beer volumes will be down 17% having dropped by 28% in the last quarter to December 2014."
Soft drinks volumes comprising both sparkling and alternative beverages are down 5% and 6% for the quarter and the full year, respectively.
The sorghum beer volume is 6% up for the quarter and 8% above prior year for the full year on the back of improved supply of the traditional beer, Chibuku Super.
In a trading update released on Tuesday, the company said performance was mixed across the beverages categories in an environment of a contracting economy characterised by “constrained consumer spending, declining local manufacturing capacity and weakening regional currencies".
Analysts said the update was not surprising as Zimbabwean consumers are hard-pressed for cash.
Disposable incomes in Zimbabwe have been on a persistent decline as companies close while others retrench.