Malaysia: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia opts for an efficient tax stamp policy

Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd believes the Government will implement an efficient tax stamp policy to ensure that duties are paid on all imported alcoholic products, chairman Datuk Jorgen Bornhoft told reporters, according to Star Publications (Malaysia)’s article published on April 21.

Bornhoft added the Government’s directive on “tax stamps” for imported alcoholic products, which took effect on April 1, was a positive step forward. “If it is carried out efficiently on all beer and hard liquor products, we hope that this will reflect positively on the local brewery industry,'' he told reporters after the company’s AGM on April 20.

“I think the Government is fairly clear about its policy. After the brewery industry explained what has actually happened after the excise increase, we hope that the Government will review the tax policy on imported alcohol products and not put locally produced beer at a disadvantage,” Bornhoft said.

In addition, he said Carlsberg's beer products were losing out to imported hard liquor as the amount of smuggled beer was not decreasing.

The duty on locally produced beer went up 26.3% and on stout by 23% following the announcements made in Budget 2005.

Bornhoft said that as a result of the lower increase in excise duty on hard liquor, consumers were being tempted to switch to hard liquor such as whisky.

On Carlsberg's share of the stout sector, he said it currently stood at just under 20%.

To strengthen its brand portfolio, the company launched in September 2004 the SKOL beer, targeted at customers with lower purchasing power.

For its financial year ended Dec 31, 2004, the group recorded a 12.4% increase in revenue to RM984.8mil, mainly attributed to price increases in 2003 and 2004, both in September, following excise duty hikes as well as growth in export sales.

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