Harare — Delta, Zimbabwe’s biggest company by market capitalisation, said Thursday that revenue grew 40% in the first quarter, mainly on lager sales. The company, 37% owned by Abi Sab Group Holding, remains under a cautionary statement over the future of Delta’s Coca-Cola manufacturing and bottling division following the merger of SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev in October 2016, Delta said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. "Lager beer volume is up 56% over the prior year for the quarter, matching peak run rates post-dollarisation," Delta said. Zimbabwe abolished its own currency in February 2009, adopting a so-called multi-currency economy in which the dollar dominates trade. Sparkling beverages, or soda, volumes rose 23% over the same period last year, reflecting sales of drinks such as Coca-Cola and Fanta. Sales of sorghum beer, also known as opaque beer, fell 5% mainly on shortages of packaging as Zimbabwe grapples with foreign-currency shortages to finance imports. The compa...
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