Unusually high tax on Banks Beer encourages illegal imports

Jan 15, 2009 News

…as Banks DIH records increased profits in 2008 – Reis

Banks DIH Chairman, Clifford Reis

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banks DIH Limited, Clifford Reis, will on Saturday announce to shareholders record profits for the company for the financial year of 2008.
According to the 2008 annual report for the company, Reis, despite a 29.7 per cent in profit before tax, lamented the fact that “the unusually high tax levied on Banks Beer and related products as compared to Caribbean countries encourages illegal import and under invoicing which creates uneven competition.”
According to the report, Reis calls for greater enforcement of the necessary laws to ensure tax revenue is not lost and a genuinely competitive market prevails.
He noted that the global financial crisis will impact on all Guyanese, especially as remittances will be reduced which will affect the economy and consequently hinder economic growth.
“Even though future global uncertainties in the social, economic and other conditions exist, we remain committed to be optimistic, proactive, and to pursue a vigorous approach towards maintaining and improving the performance of the business for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
According to the report, taxes paid to the government increased to in excess of $5B as against $4.7B that was paid in 2007.
The Chairman’s report also pointed to an increased shareholding in Barbados at the Banks Holdings Limited where another 698,208 shares were acquired in the Right’s Issue offer.
The report also addressed the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed with Banks Holding Limited, which allowed for Banks Beer and Banks Shandy to be successfully launched in the United States of America. The response has been favourable.
Plans are now in train to have the products introduced to the Canadian market.
Citizens Bank, which is a 51 per cent owned subsidiary of Banks, recorded a 66.2 per cent increase over 2007, raking in excess of $400M.
In the report’s United Vision for the company, it was pointed out that the past eight years have ushered in an era of radical, sweeping change across the globe, in ways that has never before experienced or thought possible.
“Advances in science and technology, corporate mergers and takeovers, the emergence of global trading blocks, the phenomenal growth of emerging markets like Brazil, India and China, and even the recent U.S. Presidential elections have transformed the world into a stage of endless possibilities for great success, irrespective of the attendant challenges and uncertainties.”
The United Vision pointed out that the company’s commitment to the concept of quality in all that it achieves is reflected in the progress made in acquiring HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) Certification and the steps already taken towards ISO recognition.
“Perhaps the least recognisable benefit accrued to our Company and by far the most rewarding is the strength of the networking we have been able to establish over the years…This enables us to accomplish so much when circumstances dictate otherwise.”

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