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Large Craft Brewer Reports Falling Sales |
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Friday, 15 August 2008 |
Craft Brewers Alliance Inc., one of the nation's largest craft brewers, has reported a second-quarter loss and a decline in sales as the craft brewing segment deals with a slowdown in its growth rate.
The Portland, Ore.-based company, formed by the merger of Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. and Redhook Ale Brewery Inc., lost $1.38 million, or 16 cents a share, on revenue of $12 million for the June 30 quarter, compared with a net profit of $532,724, or 6 cents a share, on revenue of $13.5 million during the year-earlier period. The company said its quarterly sales volume dropped 20.5% because of an increase in competition, a softening economy, price increases caused by a higher commodity prices, and "transition issues" tied to the recent Widmer/Redhook merger.
Volume sales of craft beer nationwide grew by 6.2% during the first six months of 2008, compared with the same period in 2007, the Brewers Alliance reported last month. That outpaces the overall U.S. beer industry, which recorded a 1.1% sales volume increase for the first half of the year, according to trade publication Beer Marketers Insights. But it's well below the craft segment's hot growth of recent years, including a 12% volume increase in 2007 and a 48.6% increase from 2002 to 2007.
Copyright (c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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