Coopers Brewery defies weaker beer market to post better sales, profit

Coopers Brewery has defied a worryingly weaker beer market to record a better profit even as its growing home brewing kit sales reinforce Australia’s cost-of-living concerns.

Aided by the launch of its Coopers Australian Lager in August last year, Australia’s biggest independent brewery lifted total beer sales 1.5 per cent to 78.7 million litres in the 12 months to June 30, against a 2.6 per cent contraction in the national market.

Net profit rose 15.6 per cent to $22.9 million on revenue that was 7 per cent better at $308m.

Family-owned Coopers’ managing director Tim Cooper said the performance had been better than expected given research showing fewer people were drinking beer and evidence Australians were cutting back on discretionary spending to meet elevated household pressures.

“There’s pressure on disposable income, and people are being careful in terms of their overall spending,” Dr Cooper said.

“We like to talk to our brewing credentials and value-for-money across our portfolio, with research continuing to highlight growing support for authentic brands that can be trusted, are high-quality and affordable.”

One indication of customers’ increased caution was an 8 per cent jump in Coopers’ home brewing volumes, though sales remain about one-third of their peak of the 1990s.

“We’re selling more home brew because people want to save some pennies,” Dr Cooper said.

Coopers’ keg sales, which make up about 12 per cent of its beer, were 1 per cent better, with packaged beer sales up 1.6 per cent.

The group achieved sales growth across all states and territories, with the exception of NSW, which recorded a decline in volumes of 1.3 per cent. New Zealand led the international portfolio, growing sales 11 per cent.

Dr Cooper said the national beer industry “continues to face significant challenges”, not just from cost-of-living pressures but from what brewers see as excessive taxes on beer that “led to the closure of smaller operators and hospitality venues across the country”.

The past year has seen accelerated closures of micro-brewers that have burst onto the scene in the past decade but struggled to build a foothold in a crowded market.

“It’s a tough business to be in until you get scale,” Dr Cooper said.

“The ones that do well have got a good on-premise offering like Gage Roads in Fremantle.”

“But otherwise, there’s just so many of them and we’re all competing in the same way, and it’s hard for the smaller ones to survive.”