Bralirwa, the country's leading brewer has resolved to issue a dividend pay-outs to its shareholders as it defies a turbulent year where its beverage sales were dampened by effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The resolution was taken during the company’s annual general meeting held on the September 17, setting October 30 as the date to start issuing dividends.

Bralirwa, which is also the only brewer listed on Rwanda Stock Exchange will pay a total of Rwf5.50 billion in cash dividends, giving out Rwf1.0 per share.

The company revenues for the first half of the year were hit, registering a 5.4 per cent fall in revenues to Rwf44.6billion from Rwf77.1billion recorded in 2019.

The company also saw a 3.4 percent decrease in volumes due to what it called “a challenging market environment exasperated by the effects of the Covid19 pandemic”, according to its half year report.

The declines came largely because the Covid-19 containment measures undertaken by the government since March, which includes closure of bars, curfew and the general restrictions on alcohol consumption and other festivities like weddings, affected consumption of bralirwa products.

With bars across the country closed for months, and festivities like weddings restricted to a few people, the company’s sales plummeted, something that will take some time to recover since some bars ended up closing for good.

Despite the difficult times, the company defied odds to turn a profit in the first half of the year, recording a 70.6 per cent growth in profit and total income to Rwf3.9billion (USD3.8million) from Rwf2.3billion (USD2.1million) in 2019.

In a statement, the company’s vice chairman and managing director Merid Demissie said the good performance recorded in the first half of the year is driven by bottom line management.