Plzeňský Prazdroj’s net profit fell by twenty percent to 3.8 billion crowns last year. Revenues decreased by more than CZK 1 billion year-on-year to almost CZK 16 billion. The main reason for the decline in economic results was the long-term closure of beer halls due to the coronavirus pandemic and the associated lower beer sales, the company said in a press release.
The largest domestic brewery sold almost 11.2 million hectoliters of beer in the Czech Republic and abroad last year, down 4.2 percent year on year. Sales in the Czech Republic fell by eight percent year on year to 6.69 million hectoliters, while sales abroad rose by one percent to 4.52 million hectoliters. “Neither the greater interest in bottled and canned beer in the Czech Republic nor the maintenance of foreign sales at the level of 2019 could compensate for the losses caused by domestic restrictions on restaurants and pubs. In the pre-Eve period, draft beer accounted for 40 percent of our sales and fell by almost a third, “CEO Dragos Constantinescu said today.
Last year, the brewery remained in the group of the 20 largest domestic taxpayers in the Czech Republic, when it put five billion crowns into the state treasury. It also increased investment in new technologies by 13 percent year on year. “Our long-term goal is to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. An example is our packaging strategy. Last year we stopped bottling Gambrinus and Radegast beers in PET bottles, and in the future, we want to abandon this type of packaging altogether. In addition to ecology, our investments have focused on expanding production, which is the best proof of the long-term focus on growth, “said the CEO.
According to the sales director, Tomáš Mráze Prazdroj, intensively supported the hard-hit sector of pubs and restaurants throughout last year, to which he gave about half a billion crowns last year. Further investments in the equipment of pubs, gardens and staff training continue this year. “Now we are most focused on helping to rebuild and develop the pub and restaurant business. We are trying to make the most of the main summer season, similar to last year after the first lockdown when we loaded a record number of businesses in our history.” “This year, we will see if we can repeat the record. But the main thing for us is to make people feel good and safe in restaurants and to return to them. The pub is a traditional part of Czech society. We are unique in this as well, worldwide.” said Frost.