Chambly (Quebec), November 21, 2002 — For the third quarter ended September 30, 2002, Unibroue reports sales of $6,070,758 compared to $5,810,502 for the same period last year, representing an increase of 4.4%. Net earnings are up slightly, from $183,374 to $186,138.

Cumulative sales for the nine-month period ended September 30 reached $17,005,455 in 2002, compared to $15,686,275 in 2001, representing an increase of 8.41%. Net earnings for this period showed a 22.7% increase, from $526,093 to $645,469. Net earnings per share were $0.11, compared to $0.08 in 2001. In the normal course of terms and conditions fixed by law, Unibroue carried out its share redemption plan, buying back 106,300 shares in the last nine months.

During this nine-month period, the increase in sales was 10.8% in the Quebec market, 17% in the rest of Canada and 30% in the United States. On the other hand, sales in the European market were down by 30%, due in part to Unibroue’s restructuring of its sales force, but mostly to a market severely affected by abnormal weather conditions that affected the entire beer industry in Europe.

Tight management of operating costs resulted in a gross margin increase of over 2.5 points. These results were offset by a significant increase in sales force expenses in order to reinforce our presence at points of sale, which affected the Company’s bottom line.

In this highly competitive beer market, Unibroue focused its efforts on developing new customers, in order to broaden its market share and improve accessibility to its products at additional points of sales. The agreement reached with the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ – Quebec Liquor Board) is in keeping with its plan: “The agreement with the SAQ involving the distribution of Unibroue specialty products in their stores generated sales representing 23% of the total increase in sales in the Quebec market”, said André Dion, Unibroue’s CEO.

“This represents an attractive alternative, given the large breweries’ efforts to control the market,” added Mr. Dion. “In this regard, Unibroue is still awaiting a report from the Competition Bureau following the steps taken to expose the large breweries’ attempts to monopolize all available shelf space in grocery and convenience stores. We intend to reach a similar agreement with the SAQ for our distillery products currently under development, a very promising prospect for Unibroue.”

Unibroue also pursued its claims with the federal authorities to bring excise taxes in line with those for American small breweries.

“Considering that beer sales grew only by 0.3% in Quebec and 0.4% in the rest of Canada for the first nine months of 2002, according to the results published by the Brewers Association of Canada, we consider Unibroue’s performance as quite satisfactory,” concluded Mr. Dion.

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