REG - East Imperial PLC - Pre-Close Trading Statement

East ImperialAnnouncement

21/07/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 1990T  East Imperial PLC  21 July 2022

21 July 2022

East Imperial PLC

Pre-Close Trading Statement

Record performance in June following a half of strong sales and operational
progress in key markets

East Imperial, the global purveyor of ultra-premium mixers, announces a
pre-close trading statement for the six months ended 30 June 2022, ahead of
reporting its interim results in September 2022.

In the first six months of the year, the group sold 95,780 cases globally
across 28 markets, resulting in revenue moving 32% higher compared to the same
period in 2021, driven by both the addition of new customers and strong demand
from the existing base.

In East Imperial's established APAC market, sales in the period were ahead of
the Board's expectations as COVID restrictions continue to lift in key
markets, with New Zealand and Singapore now returning to pre-COVID levels of
demand.

In the key strategic US market, revenue was 37% higher than budget, with June
being East Imperial's biggest ever month of sales. The US team has been
bolstered by experienced senior hires from the world of luxury beverages and
the company now has a strong distribution network in place via a long-term
agreement with Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), one of the
largest distributors in the US. RNDC initially began distributing East
Imperial's mixers across eight key US states in March 2022 and given the
success seen to date, plans are now in place to expand into more states over
the next few months.

The company was the proud winner of eight medals, including two Best-in-Class,
at the Spirits Business Awards in April 2022 as East Imperial's commitment to
offering ultra-premium mixers made with the highest quality ingredients was
recognised.

Global consumer trends in the beverage industry continue to shift towards
ultra-premium drinks consumption, reinforcing the company's strategy for
long-term sustainable growth.

Tony Burt, CEO of East Imperial, said:

"We're pleased with the performance of the business in the first six months of
the current financial year. As well as achieving record sales in key strategic
markets, we have also delivered important operational frameworks that provide
a platform to enable us to drive sustainable sales growth in the months and
years ahead.

While global logistic challenges remain, we are beginning to feel the benefits
of the hard work our teams have done to put in place a strong bottling and
distribution framework in the US. An operational priority for the rest of the
year is to further enhance our bottling capability, to increase capacity and
give us further flexibility as we embark on our national roll out with RNDC.
We have an ongoing strategy to improve our margins, including actively
reviewing our supply chain for ways to simplify the bottling and packaging
process. We will see further margin improvement as we grow as we will also
benefit from economies of scale. As an ultra-premium product, East Imperial's
pricing also means that margins are holding up well.

While consumers more broadly are no doubt feeling the squeeze, the continuing
shift towards premiumisation across the beverage industry means that demand
for East Imperial's products remains very resilient despite inflationary
pressures as people recognise the unparalleled quality of our product. I'm
confident that this will cement our continued progress and deliver continued
sales growth during the next six months, a period that is traditionally our
dominant half of the year for sales. Our year to date performance encourages
me that we have the right strategy and platform in place to drive long term
sustainable growth to create value for our shareholders and we look forward to
providing further details of our progress in September."

 

Media Enquiries

Brunswick Group

Helen Smith       +44207404 5959

Will Booth

Eastimperial@brunswickgroup.com

 

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