Coca Cola İçecek stirs Anadolu Efes’ profit

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Anadolu Efes CEO Damien Gammell has said the protests over the summer and new time restrictions on alcohol sales in Turkey hit beer sales.

Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes said its net profit has surged to 2.61 billion Turkish Liras ($1.2 billion) last year from 609.8 million a year earlier, reflecting the consolidation of Coca Cola İçecek within the group.

Its sales rose 113 percent to 9.2 billion liras in 2013, although its beer sales volume fell from 8.6 million hectoliters (mhl) to 7.4 million mhl due to a contraction in the Turkish and Russian markets.

When calculated with the consolidation of Coca Cola sales, the group’s 2012 sales totals 8.9 billion liras.

Anadolu Efes expects its beer sales volume to drop by low single digits in 2014, but expects to see higher revenue due to price hikes, said Chief Executive Officer Damien Gammell.“While the summer season was adversely affected by the developments seen in May and June, the new legal regulations have damaged sales volume of the second half of the year,” Gammell said, referring to the Gezi Park protests that continued through the summer and the tightened practices to limit alcohol consumption.

The protests flared up to protect trees in Taksim Square’s Gezi Park from destruction and spread throughout the country, particularly in large cities with a high urban population. Moreover, a controversial law placing limits on the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages in Turkey took effect as of Sept. 9, 2013. Retailers are no longer permitted to sell alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the sale of alcohol near schools and places of worship have also become forbidden, according to the bill.