Drinks group toasts vodka sales leap

DRINKS group Blavod Extreme Spirits saw its shares surge 11% today after it revealed it had sold more cases of vodka than expected over the past year.

The London-based firm, whose flagship brand is Blavod Black Vodka, said it expected volumes to be about 114% up on the previous year - slightly ahead of market hopes.

Strong trading in the second half coupled with the addition of an American wine division gave it a 'tremendous platform' for future growth, the company said.

Blavod said in a trading update that turnover for the year to 31 March would be broadly in line with expectations. It added that lower marketing costs and tighter cash control would leave it with a 'significantly larger' cash balance than expected.

Chief executive Jeffrey Hopmayer said: 'I am delighted with the progress we have made as a public company both in terms of financial performance and strategic development.'

Besides its key black vodka brand, Blavod also owns the Players Extreme range of flavour-infused vodkas and rums in the United States including flavours such as green apple, cherry, lemon and caramel.

Although the group owns the recipe and trademarks of its products, Hayman distilleries in Wytham, Essex, makes them under licence in the UK. Blavod also recently signed deals with Italian wineries Baroncini and Bruno Rocca to market their wines exclusively to the US.

Sales volumes of Blavod Black Vodka in the UK were 23% up on the same period last year, including strong growth in sales to supermarkets Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco. The company also said its wine division made further progress in moving into new areas of the US.

It described new sales opportunities for the current financial year and beyond as "encouraging". The shares rose 1¼p to 17¾p in morning trading. The company is due to post annual results in late June.