REG - Artisanal Spirits Co - AGM Statement

Artisanal SpiritsAnnouncement

24/05/2022 07:16

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RNS Number : 5175M  Artisanal Spirits Company PLC (The)  24 May 2022

24 May 2022

 

The Artisanal Spirits Company plc

 

("The Artisanal Spirits Company", "ASC", "the Company" or "the Group")

 

AGM Statement

 

Mark Hunter, Chair of The Artisanal Spirits Company (AIM: ART), the owner of
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), the leading curator and provider of
premium, single cask Scotch malt whisky and other spirits for sale primarily
online to a discerning global membership, will provide the following
statement in respect of the first four months of the year at its Annual
General Meeting ("AGM") being held at 9.00am today:

 

Strong trading and membership growth in the year to date

 

The Board is pleased to confirm that the positive momentum in the business
referred to in the preliminary results announcement released in March has
continued, with revenue growth in the period to April remaining above
30% year-on-year.

 

Global membership growth, a leading indicator of future revenue growth, is
now slightly ahead of management expectations, up over 6% in the period
and 25% year-on-year to just over 35,000.

 

Continued progress against strategic objectives

 

Good progress has been made at, our new multi-purpose supply chain facility
at Masterton Bond. Cask racking has now largely been installed with main
contractors appointed and due to commence work this month. We continue to
anticipate that the site will become fully operational in the second half of
the year and be a contributor to improving the already strong margins of the
business.

 

Talent and organisational development remain an important pillar of our
strategy and we were pleased to receive an overall Employee Engagement
Index score of 81 from a recent staff survey. This is an exceptional
result - well above reported UK and global averages -
demonstrating the belief colleagues have in our vision and values.

 

On track to deliver a strong full year performance, forward revenue guidance
maintained

 

Year on year growth of over 30% in part reflects cycling over low Q1-21 sales
in UK Venues & Europe and we remain cognisant that comparative
performance figures will get tougher in the second half of the year.
Furthermore, the Chinese government's zero tolerance approach to managing
Covid-19 has presented additional challenges for our business in that
territory in the current quarter. However, we continue to make encouraging
progress against our strategy and the Group remains on course to deliver
strong revenue growth for the full year in line with current consensus market
expectations.

 

Notes

 

1.  The Board of the Artisanal Spirits Company consider that current
consensus market expectations for the year ending 31 December 2022 are
revenues of £21.6m (2021 actual revenues £18.2m)

 

 

For further enquiries:

 

 The Artisanal Spirits Company plc                           via Alma PR

 David Ridley, Managing Director

 Andrew Dane, Finance Director

 Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7496 3000

 Sandy Fraser

 Rachel Hayes

 George Tzimas

 Asha Chotai

 Alma PR (Financial PR)                                      Tel: +44 (0)20 3405 0205

 Josh Royston                                                artisanalspirits@almapr.co.uk

 David Ison

 Lily Soares Smith

 

About The Artisanal Spirits Company

 

Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) is based in Edinburgh. It owns The Scotch Malt
Whisky Society (SMWS) which was established in 1983 and currently has a
growing worldwide membership of over 35,000 paying subscribers.

 

Harnessing the experience of some of the most knowledgeable stewards in the
industry, SMWS provides members with inspiring experiences, content and
exclusive access to a vast and unique range of outstanding single cask Scotch
malt whiskies and other craft spirits, sourced from over 100 distilleries in
20 countries and expertly curated with diligence and care. In 2021 around 83%
of Group revenue was generated online, whilst 13% was generated through SMWS's
four UK venues.

 

Having initially proven its premium experience model in the UK, SMWS is now
able to offer its unrivalled breadth of distinguished flavours to an expanding
international market, with 69% of 2021 sales from outside the UK. SMWS has a
growing presence in the key global whisky markets including UK, China, USA and
Europe.

 

ASC is building a portfolio of premium brands that bring together some of the
world's best spirits producers with a growing movement of discerning consumers
by curating unrivalled collections of craft spirits. In November 2021 it
launched J.G. Thomson & Co. Inspired by its namesake, which was originally
a wine and spirits merchant in Leith, Scotland, in the 1700s, J.G. Thomson is
a new, adventurous blender, creating small batch blended malt whiskies,
blended grain whiskies, rum and gin. J.G. Thomson products are available from
www.jgthomson.com as well as a range of leading whisky shops, bars and
restaurants.

 

 

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