- Six-month sales to end of September rise 20% to EUR56.3m (US$58.5m)
- ‘North America’ region slips 4% at EUR13.9m
- Glass shortages in US and “severe input cost inflation” drag on bottom line: Operating profits dip 2%
Lucas Bols has maintained an upbeat tone for the months ahead, despite seeing the wider economic climate hamper its latest set of results.
The Netherlands-based cocktail specialist, whose portfolio includes the likes of the Bols and Passoa liqueur brands, saw its sales in the six months to the end of September climb 20%. The performance, which follows fiscal 2022’s +59% showing, was impacted by “global supply challenges”, most markedly by glass shortages in the US.
So bad was the macroeconomic situation in the US that production for the market had to return temporarily to the Netherlands during the fiscal first half.
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
On a regional basis, a combination of tough comparables and the lack of glass for bottles in the US resulted in the 'Sophisticated Cocktail Markets' reporting region dipping by 4% in sales terms, while the 'Developed Cocktail Markets' climbed 28% to $33.6m.
Brands-wise, the group highlighted the "popular" Espresso Martini serve in North America as driving sales for Galliano, while "the popularity of the Porn Star Martini cocktail is spreading, particularly in European markets". The latter cocktail helped Passoa in several European markets as well as the US and Japan.
Lucas Bols also provided an update on last month's announced divestment of the Avandis joint venture. The offload of the manufacturing and bottling entity, which is shared with Dutch peer De Kuyper Royal Distillers, is expected to close before the end of this year.
For the second half of fiscal 2023 - to the end of March - the company admitted that geopolitical and macroeconomic "uncertainty" remains a concern", as does weakening consumer purchasing power". That said, Lucas Bols still expects to deliver full-year sales growth, aided in part by its purchase of Tequila Partida, which entered the portfolio at the start of 2022.
