QAB passes $100m milestone

Quadrant Amroq Beverages (QAB), the bottler of Pepsi soft drinks in Romania, has exceeded the 100 million-dollar turnover target it set earlier in the year. The company enjoyed growth in its turnover of 52% for the fourth quarter of last year, compared with the corresponding period in 2003, after seeing growth of around 40% in the first three quarters. QAB had a turnover of 74 million dollars in 2003 and set its sights on overshooting the level of 100 million dollars (approximately 85 million euros) for 2004. This represents around 35% in terms of growth in dollars. “Turnover between October and December of 2004 was 52.43% higher than for same period in 2003. The growth in volume for the period was 23.84%,” company officials announced. The main factors behind the increase in sales were the launch of a new mineral water brand, Roua Muntilor, last summer, and the re-launch of Prigat, following a 4.5 million-dollar investment in the facility in Bucharest. ZF