Yerevan brandy company maintains last year output and increases profit by 14% in 2008/2009

YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. Yerevan Brandy Company managed to maintain last production output of 4 million liters and to increase its profit by 14% up to 17 billion drams in 2008/2009 financial year despite financial and economic crisis, Executive Director of the company Ara Grigoryan said.

Export activities have been also maintained from the last year and even a negligible increase has been recorded, Grigoryan said.

Increase in profits along with unchanged production activities was recorded mainly due to change in foreign currency rate. Product cost and sales of profitable brandy kinds also had some small contribution to the increase.

Yet, the company also experienced the crisis effects: it failed to reach the ambitious 18% growth panned in the beginning of the year, Grigoryan said.

Even a 50% decline was recorded in production as of the end of July-August of 2009/2010 financial year as compared with the last year level.

The problem is that Russian market is the main one for Yerevan Brandy Company and it is not know when it will start stabilizing, Grigoryan said.

He also reported that no staff reduction was recorded in the company in 2008/2009 financial year. The company continues providing a full social security package to its employees, including health insurance, life insurance and insurance against accidents.

As a result of the audit carried out by a prestigious international audit company, Yerevan Brandy Company received ISO 14001 environment management system certificate and OHSAS 18001 human health and safety certificate.

Yerevan Brandy Company was founded in 1887. The modern factory complex was put in operation in 1953.

In June 1998 the company joined the Pernod Ricard group, an international corporation owning a number of famous alcoholic drink trademark and ranking the second in the world in production and sales of alcoholic drinks. Pernod Ricard purchased the Yerevan Brandy Company for $30mln at an international tender. ($1=377.11drams).  –0--