TANZANIA BREWERIES PAYOUT UP 50% TO SH450

Tanzania Breweries Mbeya Plant 

Dar es Salaam. Investors with Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) will smile all the way to the bank as the beer brewer has upped its dividend payout by 50 per cent during the year to March 31st 2014, thanks to an increase in pre-tax profit.

The firm’s board’s chairman, Mr Cleopa Msuya said in Dar es Salaam recently that investors will earn a Sh450 dividend per share, following a pre-tax profit of Sh278.040 billion registered during the year to March 2014.

A total of Sh132.718 billion has been approved as dividend from the profit registered during the year ending 31st March, 2014.

During a similar period last year, some Sh300 per share – or a total of Sh88.479 billion - was paid out as dividend, thanks to a Sh233.987 billion profit before tax.

“This is one of the highest dividends to be paid by TBL….We have paid interim dividends of Sh150 per share in three phases…Last year, we managed to do so only twice,” Mr Msuya, the former Prime Minister, said at the company’s annual general meeting last week.

He said the company’s profits went up largely due to improved efficiency and cost-cutting initiatives.

TBL – which has seen the price of its share heading north at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) - paid a total of Sh85.570 billion in corporate tax.

Between April 2013 and March 2014, the price of a TBL share gained by 165 per cent.

Meanwhile, Mr Msuya introduced Mr Roberto Jarrin as the new company Managing Director and SABMiller Operations Director for East Africa.

Mr Jarrin said his management will strive to build on the successes story of TBL.

“We will ensure efficiency in distribution, control costs and look on how to increase volume of sales especially considering that the current excise duty has had a negative impact on sale volumes,” he said.