TURNOVER at Murphy Brewery Ireland increased by almost 12 per cent last year to £125 million, as the company expanded its share of the Irish beer market to 15.4 per cent.

The growth in turnover was due to a surge in domestic sales of Heineken, and an increase in exports of Murphy's Stout and the company's new export ale, Murphy's Irish Red Beer. Murphy which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heineken, does not divulge its Irish profit figures.

Murphy's review of the £1.5 billion Irish beer market shows that, despite the long hot summer, beer sales were almost static last year, achieving an increase of a mere 0.2 per cent.

Murphy's growth in business had an impact.on employment at the Lady's Well site in Cork as about 20 new jobs were created during the year, bringing the total workforce to 345. The brewery's managing director, Mr Marien Kakebeeke, said the company was confident of further strong growth in sales and market share in the year ahead".

Sales of Heineken increased by 12.4 per cent during the year, boosting consumption of the lager to an average of 2.2 million pints a week. Heineken now has a 37 per cent share of the lager market, followed by the Guinness Ireland products Carlsberg (22 per cent) and Budweiser (20 per cent).

Murphy's Stout held its 5 per cent position in the Irish market but enjoyed a massive growth in export sales. Mr Kakebeeke admits that despite a modest increase in sales, the brewery "is not happy" with the level of domestic growth being achieved by Murphy's Stout and feels that sales can be improved.

The company plans to increase promotion of the stout brand with a new £2 million marketing campaign, while the distribution network will also continue to expand outside its traditional stronghold of Cork city and county.

Murphy exports, which also include Irish Red Beer, increased by 26 per cent, but its stout brand accounted for the bulk of the expansion.

Turnover in Britain and Northern Ireland, which form the world's largest stout market, increased by 11 per cent and Murphy boosted its share of the market to just over 14 per cent. The stout is brewed in Britain by Whitbread and Murphy receives licence fees from the British brewer. The Cork company also hopes to cash in on Whitbread expansion of its two Irish themed chains of pubs.

While overall beer sales were static during the year, there was a significant shift in the pattern of beer consumption by Irish drinkers. Without the hot summer, Irish beer sales would have fallen by up to 2 per cent last year, according to Murphy marketing director Mr Patrick Conway.

Pub sales fell by almost 2.5 per cent, while off licence sales grew by 37 per cent. The growth in the off licence business is due to the "barbecue effect" of the summer and the impact of the new drink driving legislation.

The overall lager market increased by 12 per cent at the expense of ale and stout.