-returns negatively affected by energy, other costs
Demerara Distillers Limited’s (DDL) after-tax profit for the first half of this year rose by 3.7% from $2.202b last year to $2.284b this year.
DDL said that the profit margins were negatively affected by the rise in energy, logistics and input costs.
According to its interim report published in yesterday’s Kaieteur News, profit before taxation for the group was $3.142b, a rise of 6% or $180m over the $2.962b for the first half of last year.
The cost of sales rose substantially from $8.02b for the first half of 2025 to $9.33b for the first six months this year.
In his statement accompanying the report, Chairman, Komal Samaroo said that in the first half of this year consumer spending in international markets was constrained by high inflation as fuel prices rose because of the war in the Middle East. In North America and Europe he said that spirits sales have declined particularly in the premium and super premium segments. However, growth in the local market has been sustained as a result of the growing oil and gas sector.
Samaroo said that the Group’s turnover for the first half of this year was $16.968b compared to $14.585b for the same period last year, an increase of 16.3%.
While the increase in turnover in the international market was just 3.3%, on the domestic side the rise was 19.2% over the two half years. He said that new products which were launched in the second quarter of this year accounted for approximately 15% of the rise in turnover for the period.
Samaroo listed a series of expansion projects.
DSL’s Retail Cash and Carry Store in Lethem was opened on March 30, 2026. Construction of Demerara Dairy Inc (DDI) at Moblissa is projected to be fully completed in November this year. The first shipment of heifers 85 arrived which allowed for the start of operations. Since then, another 473 have arrived.
Samaroo said that the Group’s Beverage Operations upped the use of its expanded capacity and several new products were launched locally in the first half of this year. These were ready-to- drink cocktails, the production of Gatorade Isotonic Sports Beverage under an agreement with Pepsi Co and the packaging of Pepsi in cans for the first time in Guyana.
Construction also started in February this year for a new DSL Retail Cash and Carry Store at Vreed-en-Hoop while upgrades to the facilities of Tropical Orchard Products Company Limited for the receiving and processing of fresh milk is ongoing and are slated for completion by the end of this month.
DDL last month announced a US$10m expansion at Bird Rock in St Kitts-Nevis. The new multi-purpose complex, it said, will feature expanded bottling, packaging, and state-of-the-art warehousing capacity, positioning the facility as a pivotal hub to serve St. Kitts & Nevis, as well as surrounding island markets across the Eastern Caribbean.
Discussion