Rising beer sales and profit have delivered triple-digit growth in the bonuses of the beer making company top managers.
The EABL annual report shows that bonuses paid to CEO Andrew Cowan, Jane Karuku (managing director of Kenya Breweries Limited) and Gyorgy Geiszl (the finance director) recorded triple-digit growth on the back of a 59% growth in profits to Sh11.5 billion ($115 million).
"Bonus pay is discretionary and is paid out in line with the company’s bonus scheme, which seeks to reward an employee’s contribution as part of a ‘winning team’," said the company.
Riding on the recovery in the consumption of both beer and spirits across the region
This lifted Mr Cowan’s pay to Sh115.7 million ($115,700) or Sh9.6 million ($96,000) per month in the period to June, reflecting a 21.7% increase. Mr Cowan earned a salary of Sh35.8 million ($358,000) in that period, representing an increase of 2.43% from a year earlier with his bonus having grown 145.3% to Sh24.5 million ($245,000).
The strong profit performance was attributed to the 11% growth in volumes and a 12% surge in sales to Sh82.53 billion ($825.3 million), marking the first time the brewer had grown profits since 2016.
In the period to June, Mr Cowan also took home Sh55.3 million in perks, up 10.55% from Sh50 million ($500,000) a year earlier while Ms Karuku saw her pay grow 19.58% to Sh46.4 million ($464,000) or Sh3.8 million ($38,000) monthly compared to the previous year.
Her compensation increased largely on account of a 110.6% jump in bonus to Sh10.6 million ($106,000) from Sh5 million (50,000) a year earlier.
On the other hand, Mr Geiszl’s pay rose 22.11% to Sh68 million ($680,000) in the period from Sh55.7 million ($557,000) a year earlier on the back of the reward scheme.
EABL’s performance was underpinned by the recovery in the consumption of both beer and spirits across the region.
According to the firm’s audited financial statements, all regional markets registered increased sales, pushing up the firm’s total revenues by 12% to Sh82.54 billion ($825.4 million) from Sh73.45 billion ($734.5 million).
Revenues in Uganda and Tanzania grew by 8% and 20% respectively while Kenya went up 13%.
