Soon to be swallowed by Labatt, discount beermaker Lakeport Brewing Income Fund turned out “very strong” fourth-quarter results that hit a new high for the period, CEO Teresa Cascioli said Tuesday.
“Lakeport set new achievement records for the quarter and for the year in every key area of performance,” Cascioli told investors in a conference call.
“The growth in our sales and market share for the year confirmed that marketing strategies, promotion and advertising efforts in 2006 were highly successful.”
She avoided questions about how the trust’s buck-a-beer marketing strategy may change after Lakeport is taken over by Labatt Brewing Co. for about $201.4 million.
Industry watchers have suggested that the shift of the discount beermaker into the hands of one of Canada’s dominant beer companies could spell the end of the cut-rate pricing Lakeport has become famous for.
The Hamilton-based brewer reported an October-December profit of $2.4 million or 44 cents per unit, compared with $386,000 or seven cents per unit in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 25% to $40.9 million from $32.6 million.
Some beverage analysts believe that Labatt, the Canadian unit of Belgian-headquartered global beer titan InBev, will slowly lower the profile of the product while others suggest Lakeport will be phased out completely.
The takeover might also allow a competitor from outside the province to move into Ontario and gain a share of low-priced beer sales.
Last month, Manjit Minhas, co-owner of the Mountain Crest and Minhas Creek discount brands in Alberta and Manitoba, said she was considering a shift into Ontario.
“The only person that I deemed to be my competition when I enter Ontario… was Lakeport Brewing Co.—because they have a lot of the tactics that we do,” she said.
