- Sales in six months to the end of September dip 1% to EUR55.7m (US$60.5m)
The economic squeeze on consumers in developed markets for cocktails has resulted in a drag on sales performance for Lucas Bols in its latest half-year.
The brand owner, which is set to be absorbed by acquirer The Nolet Group next year, posted a flat top-line from the six months to the end of September, inching up by 1% on the corresponding period in 2022. According to Lucas Bols, the economic downturn in some of its markets was “more or less compensated [for]” by healthy showings for the Bols Cocktails portfolio in markets including the US, Japan and South-East Asia.
In Western Europe, however, particularly in the off-premise, the group did not fare so well.
Sophisticated Cocktail Markets: N America
Developed Cocktail Markets: W Europe, Japan, Australia & NZ
Emerging Cocktail Markets: E Europe, Asia [excl. Japan], Latin America, Africa & Middle East
Bols Cocktails, which comprises the brand's liqueurs and RTD ranges as well as a vodka mark, was "solid" in the six months, particularly in the US, although group sales in the country had been severely impacted a year earlier by glass shortages. That said, the "increased momentum [in the US] for vodka-based cocktails such as the Espresso Martini" benefited both Bols Vodka, which only recently celebrated its US launch, and the Espresso variant of the Galliano brand. Meanwhile, the third flagship brand, Passoã, was flat. despite the claim that the "popularity of the Pornstar Martini cocktail continues to grow across the globe".
In this week's results announcement, the group reiterated its expectation that the purchase by Nolet, valued at around US$285m, will complete in the first half of next year.
Lucas Bols' official H1 fiscal 2024 results statement.
Why Europe is still the place to be for cocktails – Market Intel
