Wednesday, Canadian brewery Brick Brewing Co. Limited (BRB.TO) said its Founder, Jim Brickman, has resigned as chairman of the board, and that it named Peter Schwartz as its interim Chairman. The company noted that Brickman received a retiring allowance of about C$390 thousand, in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement.
Brickman was the company's Executive Chairman from May 2004 till his retirement from the company on December 11, 2008. Since February 1984, the beginning of the brewery, Brickman served as President and Chief Executive Officer for 20 years till May 2004.
In a statement, the company said it, "appreciates the significant contribution Jim Brickman has made to the Company since founding it in 1984. His hard work and dedication has helped build a strong foundation for the Company's future."
In October last year, Brick Brewing appointed Jason Pratt as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Graydon Moore.
Brick Brewing, with 135 employees and C$16 million market capitalization, is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery, and was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario. Its popular brew is Waterloo Dark.
In the company's website, Brickman says, "I started the brewery back in 1984 simply because I love beer."
As per the site, Brickman's original dream was to create a small brewery that would produce unique, quality beers different from what was available in the Ontario marketplace at that time. In 1979, Brickman started his journey of research and discovery that took him through 68 breweries in 29 countries. In the beginning, his decision to open a 'microbrewery', the first of its kind in Eastern Canada in 37 years, had to face significant obstacles from doubting bankers and bureaucrats. He started the brewery in February 1984, and on December 18, 1984 the first bottle of Brick Premium Lager rolled off the bottling line. In its first year, the company's eight employees produced and shipped 35 thousand cases of beer. In the past year, the company sold over 1.2 million cases of beer.
While announcing its third quarter results on December 11, George Croft, Brick's President and Chief Executive Officer said, "Our focus for the balance of the year will continue to be directed at reducing all non-strategic costs, enhancing operating efficiencies and improving the performance of our brands in the marketplace."
In its third quarter, the company's net loss narrowed to C$676.19 thousand or C$0.03 per share from last year's loss of C$857.91 thousand or C$0.04 per share. Brick Brewing gross revenues were C$16.5 million, a decrease of C$0.4 million from prior year, and net revenues were C$7.3 million, down 3.3% from the previous year.
BRB.TO closed Tuesday's regular trading session at C$0.36.
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