Beer Group President and Anadolu Efes CEO Can Çaka’s Comments
“I am very happy to deliver strong results for another quarter. Eased restrictions along with the increased mobility led to a successful volume performance in the third quarter. On top of 9% volume growth achieved on a consolidated basis the robust growth in per unit prices yielded a topline growth of over 30%. While in July, Russia has recorded the highest-ever monthly beer sales, similarly the soft drink volumes in Turkey have hit its record-high monthly level. Our profitability margins on the other hand was below last year due to cycling a high base of last year. The margins were also impacted from the recent hike in commodity and raw material prices” commented Mr. Can Çaka, Beer Group President and Anadolu Efes CEO
In beer group, we sustained our volume growth momentum similar to the first half of 2021, thanks to the superior performance of international beer operations led by Russia and CIS countries. In soft drinks, Turkey and Pakistan had another solid quarter, also CIS managed to grow by double-digits.
It is very encouraging that Russia had almost double-digit growth in the period despite last year’s high base. The growth was assisted by favorable market dynamics but we also benefitted from the development of our premium and NABLAB segment as well as adjacent categories. Despite the pandemic, the strong results achieved in Russia since the beginning of the year were as a result of our superior execution capabilities, our dedication to commercial excellence also to excellent portfolio management by offering the right choice to consumers. Ukraine on the other hand had a challenging quarter once again due to higher pricing over competition. In CIS countries, we continued our leadership with successful market implementations and differentiated offerings including non-alcoholic and flavored beer. In line with our strategy to expand our geographic footprint, beer export volumes expanded significantly, where exports to China, Belarus and MENA regions showed double-digit increases.
In Turkey, we continued to invest in our “+1 Relaunch” and increase engagement with our consumers. As part of Company’s strategy to own innovative leadership, we launched “Efes Glutensiz” the first gluten-free beer produced in Turkey, which was developed in our innovation center in İzmir. I am very excited to see strong dynamics despite a very short period of time; since the launch.
As of end-of September, in our soft drinks operations the Uzbekistan acquisition was completed; marking another milestone for our Company. I believe that with its strong growth potential, it will make a significant contribution to our growth dynamics going forward.
Rising commodity prices, fluctuating FX rates as well as the high inflation environment have already started to pressurize our profitability performance since the beginning of the quarter. However, we have already started to take actions across the board to address these challenges by implementing price increases as well as using hedging tools to limit the impact on our margins for the rest of the year and for 2022. Our strong positions in the operating markets, our wide premium brand portfolio, strong pricing power, tight expense management skills will be the determinants to be able to overcome these headwinds.