| Rum is good business, as evidenced by the 2009 financial report of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).The company, which is well known for its line of alcoholic products, especially its award-winning rums, released the report in advance of its 58th Annual General Meeting.In the report, the company detailed not only its financial state, but paid special focus to its vision of “Going Green”.According to the report, the Group of companies (DDL and subsidiaries) saw a 2.5 percent turnover increase in 2009 when the figure reached $12.364B as against the $12.064B of 2008.Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Yesu Persaud, stated in his remarks that this increase was in the face of the global depression that ensued in 2009. Noting that export rum sales represented 33 percent of the total rum sales of the year; it was the “diversified nature of the group which allowed it to withstand the considerable shocks in the past two years which caused companies of all sizes and in most industries to collapse.”For the parent company itself, the yearly turnover was $8.371B for 2009 against the $8.821B in 2008, a figure explained in the report as a 20 per cent decline in revenue on bulk rum exports.Despite that fact, however, the company’s profits before interest and taxation still increased by 2.5 percent in 2009 as against 2008, with $1.762B and $1.682B being reported for each year respectively.After taxes and deductions, the annual profit for 2009 was $808M as against that of 2008 which was $798M.The non-current assets of DDL went from $8.35B in 2008 to $9.37B in 2009, an increase of 12.2 per cent. Under this heading the property,Hydro Flask Rea, plant and equipment values are held. Of note are the ongoing construction works on the new bio methanisation plant,World Baseball Classic Jerseys Outlet, one of DDL’s green initiatives, as well as the newly commissioned bottling plant which cost in excess of US$9M to build, coming to completion in late 2009.Current assets increased from $17.73B in 2008 to $18.78B in 2009. Of interest was the fact that cash generated from operations more than doubled over the reporting period as it increased from $0.978B to $2.101B in 2008 over 2009.The ten-year review of the parent company and subsidiaries included in the report pointed out that the group has been showing an increase in turnover for the last 10 years, with the exception of 2004, where it dropped only to jump again in 2005.Profits after tax were somewhat more unsteady however, but from 2005 through 2010 there has been an annual increase in this figure with the exception of 2008.The report also highlighted three main projects occupying the company’s attention,Adidas Shoes From China Wholesale, and which accounted for a significant part of the Company’s US$22M capital expenditure programme from 2008 through 2010.Those projects were the New Bottling Plant, the Bio-Methanisation Plant and the New Multi Column Still.The New Bottling Plant which was commissioned mid-2009 has,Cheap MLB Gear, according to the report,Fjallraven Kanken Backpack Australia, increased the efficiency of the company’s production capacity to such an extent that the company has reduced the number of shifts and hours necessary to meet the demands of consumers.Meanwhile, the added efficiency does not end there, a new still which will be more efficient as a result of better fuel and raw material usage is scheduled to be completed next month.However,Aaron Ness Jersey, the achievement that the company seems most proud of is the construction of their new bio-methanisation plant which, if all goes according to plan, will be completed this month and operational next month. The Plant will capture the waste distillery water, store it and convert it into biogas.The report which touts the plant as the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, claims that the methane produced therein will be used to fire the boilers and at a later stage eventually power generation sets. |
