Brewery sackings planned

Wednesday, September 22, 1993 - 10:00

Brewery sackings planned

By Paul Oboohov

The Financial Review on September 17 reported an announcement by New Zealand multinational brewer Lion Nathan, of Swan, Fourex and Tooheys sackings fame, that it is seeking sackings at its latest acquisition, the Southwark (Adelaide) brewery.

Kevin Roberts, chief operating officer for Lion Nathan, said that it is seeking a cut in production costs of 50%, to 13 cents per litre. He rejected suggestions of a 30 to 40% cut in staff, as had taken place at Tooheys, saying that the exact number had still to be worked out.

Roberts congratulated the Southwark plant on its "efficiencies", but said that it wasn't competitive internationally. He also said that Lion Nathan would seek lower average costs by boosting production from 100 million litres to 150 million litres.

From GLW issue 116