Stock Spirits full year revenues up after Europe drinks its way through pandemic

Vodka-maker Stock Spirits reported full year revenues up 9% on Wednesday after Central European consumers headed to the supermarket to stock up during the pandemic.

Stock Spirits owns a number of Central European vodka and gin brands, as well as Italian Limoncello, brandy, and Grappa heavyweights. The company is also invested in Irish whiskey-maker Quintessential Brands in Dublin.

The company, which makes around 80% of its sales in Poland and the Czech Republic, reported revenues of €341 million in the year to September 30, up from €312 million in the same period in 2019. Operating profit before exceptional expenses was up 6% to €57.8 million.

The company, which said it has sought no state assistance since the pandemic broke out, said it would pay an ordinary dividend for the year of 9.55 Euro cents per share, up 6.8% on the prior year, and said its Board is proposing a special dividend to shareholders of 11 Euro cents per share.

Stock Spirits' second-biggest shareholder Western Gate, which represents the family office of Portuguese cash-and-carry tycoon Luis Amaral, had reportedly been pushing for a special dividend.

Chief executive Mirek Stachowicz, who has run the company since 2016, told the Standard: "We had a very strong set of results in the last fiscal year against the backdrop of Covid-19 and the significant increase in excise taxes in our two largest markets. We grew our EBITDA significantly, in Poland by over 18%, and in our second largest market the Czech Republic by 8%.

"The good news is we feel confident about our current performance, and we also believe that we are coming out of this period stronger than before, so we decided not only increase our dividends in line with our progressive policy, but to pay a special divided."

The boss said that strong revenues were supported by local production and off-trade presence, and that the company has "been able to show our resilience in times of deep crisis".

He said: "We are a mile deep in our markets, we are not there by coincidence. Our products are staple products... we cover all price points.

"We did see the impact of Covid but because we were able to shift between channels, to come to consumers with various brands, so overall the business benefited.”