LOCAL brewers, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) held its Annual General Meeting Friday at the company’s manufacturing complex at Plantation Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

The appointment of auditors for the company; election of directors, and determination of their benefits; consideration of the company’s accounts, the Chairman’s Report and that of the auditors for the year ended December 31, 2012; as well as awarding employees for long service to the beverage company were all features of the AGM.
In his address, company chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud pointed out that DDL has made remarkable achievements for the year 2012, although the company is still recovering from the economic fallout that occurred between 2008 and 2009.
Dr. Persaud noted that the fallout, and more recently the fiscal cliff in the United States, saw some amount of uncertainty, which led to an overall weakened demand for goods and services in major global economies.
However, despite adversities and what the company described as “unfair competition in some sectors,” DDL was able to commit itself to the expansion of its international brands. The chairman added that overcoming those challenges saw the company being able to receive the rewards of its fortitude by increasing the intake of revenue for branded products by 23 percent, while revenues garnered from sale of bulk products also climbed by 29 per cent.
Dr. Persaud’s report pointed to some mixed reaction from market shares and performance in respect to the company’s overseas operations for the years 2011 and 2012. While acknowledging that overseas subsidiaries had performed creditably, he said the impact of the “euro crisis” had its influence on the company’s operations, especially in Europe, which saw before-tax profit totalling $143.7 million, while that for 2011 had seen a figure of $186M before tax.
DDL operations in the United States recorded a before-tax profit of $32.6 million in 2012, as against $31.5 million in 2011.
The chairman said the company was very optimistic that it would continue to see growth in the US operations for this and future years.
It was a very good year for the St. Kitts operation, Dr Persaud reported, because that entity recorded pre-tax profit of $22.1M in 2012, as against $13.7 in 2011.
Persaud said the National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) did not do so well. The operations in that country had a difficult 2012. Disposal of effluent (waste) continued to plague its operations throughout the year, and management was able to get a grip on the situation only in the latter part of the year.
Consequently, the company could garner pre-tax profit of only $45.6 million, compared to $56.3 million in 2011.
Nevertheless, the company is optimistic of turning in a much improved performance in 2013.
Even whilst facing challenges from having experienced mixed financial fortunes, the Guyanese beverage company has been able to capture several coveted prizes for its contribution to the rum and spirits industry.
DDL has been able to retain its ranking as being among the best rums in the world with the flagship “El Dorado Rums” during the past year; and the 21-year-old and three-year-old rums have won gold medal awards at the International Wines and Spirits Competition in London, England.
The company continued its investments in implementation of modern technology in 2012 as it sought to upgrade its distillery operations. The year also saw DDL responding to the needs of its customers with the commissioning of the DSL Cash and Carry facility at Diamond in December, which took the number of the company’s total retail outlets to four.
The chairman said the company has committed $1.4 billion towards capital programmes, which will see DDL upgrading its power generation facility and production equipment, along with its fleet of vehicles and its storage facilities. There will also be some expansion in the line of the company’s distribution business.
Fifty-two employees who have served the company for periods ranging from 15 years to 30 years were also appropriately recognized by the company.