Oriental Brewery said on the 10th that it posted 1.7785 trillion won in sales on a consolidation basis last year. That was up 2% from a year earlier. Operating profit for the same period fell 5.4% to 346.5 billion won. Net profit dropped 33.9% to 159.4 billion won.
Sales grew, but rising expense appears to have hurt profitability. Oriental Brewery's selling, general and administrative expenses and logistics costs last year were 717.8 billion won, up 4.1% from a year earlier.
An Oriental Brewery official said, "This year as well, we will respond to market changes and maintain leadership based on a strong brand portfolio including the core brand Cas, broader consumer choices such as nonalcoholic and light beers, and sports marketing tied to the World Cup and the Olympics."