Duvel Moortgat SA, a Belgian brewer founded by the Moortgat family in 1871, has doubled its sales in the past five years. The company, Belgium’s second largest after the giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, increased net profit to 18.9 million euros ($27.5 million) from 14.9 million euros in 2010, and its share price has risen to about 74 euros from 16 euros in 2003,
the
Wall Street Journal
reported.
“The family still owns three-quarters of the shares and has declined to sell,” the article said.
The company’s signature brew is Duvel, which is sold in the U.S. The name means “devil.”
Duvel lumbered along until the 1990s, when a new generation of family leadership decided to transform the business into a more modern company. In 1999, a new generation of family leaders, led by CEO Michel Moortgat, went on the Brussels stock exchange. Mr. Moortgat, who is still in charge, hired away marketing talent from Anheuser….
The company now owns six breweries: four in Belgium, one in the Czech Republic and one in the U.S., the article said. (Source:
Wall Street Journal,
July 6, 2011.)
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