Trans-Tasman brewer Lion Nathan said today it was on track to record double-digit earnings growth for the current year.
In a statement prepared for the company's annual meeting in Sydney today, Lion Nathan chief executive officer Gordon Cairns said trading results for the first two months of the 2002 fiscal year
showed the brewer - having grown earnings by 14 per cent in the 2001 fiscal year - was on track to deliver double-digit after-tax earnings growth in the current year.
Company chairman Geoff Ricketts said business was solid, despite the world slowdown.
The brewer had strong, sustainable cash flows and looked set to profit from the development of its premium wine strategy.
"We are unusually well positioned as a business, to face the future and take advantage of opportunities that are bound to arise," Mr Ricketts said.
Lion posted a net profit of $A151.8 million ($NZ190.70 million) for the year to September 30, compared with $A3.7 million for the previous 12 months when it wrote down its Chinese brewing assets by $A120 million.
The brewer purchased Australian wine company Petaluma earlier this year and is moving to acquire Banksia Wines Ltd.
Shares in Lion closed yesterday up a cent at $NZ5.51.
- NZPA
