CI Holdings Bhd ... Oct09

A bottler and distributor of Pepsi and 7Up in the country, is targeting 30 per cent share of the non-carbonated drinks market within the next three years.

The group will continue adding new products amid the increasing demand for non-carbonated beverages. While Pepsi remains its fast-selling product, CI Holdings is expecting future growth to come from non-carbonated drinks like Tropicana, Lipton, Sting and Gatorade.

The non-carbonated segment is anticipated to enjoy continued growth, leveraging on its ongoing brand support and increase in distributorship to more than 40,000 by year-end (2009) from 36,000 distributors currently.

Their focus is on non-carbonated drinks like tea and juices, which have seen increasing numbers of Malaysians opting for the healthier choice in non-carbonated beverages.

The country's ready-to-drink beverage industry is valued at between RM2 billion and RM2.5 billion a year, and CI Holdings has some 15 per cent market share.

Its chilled ready-to-drink juice, Tropicana Twister, which was launched in March last year, saw strong response from consumers and snatched the number one spot from its rival, Marigold. As at August this year (2008), Tropicana Twister has about 30 per cent share of the market.

In the financial year ended June 30 2009, CI Holdings' net profit was up 45 per cent to RM20.9 million, while revenue rose 25 per cent to RM363 million. Beverage sales contributed 90 per cent of the group's total revenue.

CI Holdings was looking at investing further in non-carbonated beverage brands, but declined to reveal how many more drinks it plans to introduce.