Pepsi Blue boosts QAB's sales

Quadrant Amroq Beverages (QAB), the bottler of the Pepsi brands for the Romanian market saw turnover up 57% in Q4, 2003 from the corresponding period of 2002. The growth in the first three quarters was somewhat slower, 52% in Q1, 37% in Q2 and 30% in Q3. The company did not release financials in nominal value. The data point to an over 40% annual growth, which makes for a turnover upwards of $70 million last year, according to the 2002 data published by the Finance Ministry. “The increase in sales was partly due to the innovations launched by QAB in the last few months of the year, such as the PET bottle for the Prigat brand and Pepsi Blue Cola, an exclusive release for the Christmas holidays,” the company says. In terms of volume, sales in the fourth quarter rose 30%. QAB SA’s turnover reached $50.9 million in 2002, 32% more than in 2001, according to Finance Ministry data. ZF