Amber Beverage Group reports ‘strong’ H1
Luxembourg-based Amber Beverage Group saw its earnings rise 8% in the first six months of 2020 due to the implementation of “effective" cost management measures amid the pandemic.
Despite “challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic”, Rooster Rojo Tequila maker Amber Beverage Group (ABG) reported its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) had grown 8%. The firm said it had "outperformed" its sales forecasts in the majority of its markets. Jekaterina Stuģe, CFO at Amber Beverage Group, said: “Despite the challenges we have faced this year, we are pleased that our total group revenues for the first half of 2020 present a strong performance compared to last year. Our EBITDA has grown by 8% due to effective cost management, streamlining internal processes and a quick introduction of new brands. The double-digit growth in production (+18% vs budget forecasts and +6% vs last year) kept our employees busy all around the world – in Russia, Mexico and the Baltic states.” “June in particular showed notable signs of revenue recovery in the Baltics and APAC regions, whilst July demonstrated hope that the UK market will start to reopen. Even though business in the EMEA region remains challenging, the excellent results and revenue obtained at the end of July promise good signs of recovery in the coming months.” In Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, ABG reported “impressive growth”, boosted by sales of Moskovskaya Vodka and Riga Black Balsam in Ukraine, which grew 83% and 86% respectively compared with the same period last year. ABG also reported positive results for the Baltic states with a year-to-date growth of 14%. Meanwhile, in the UK, the majority of the group’s sales came through the grocery channel as on-trade outlets were forced to close their doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On-trade sales in July rebounded slowly as venues reopened, ABG said. In the US, ABG said sales performed well through 2020. New importers have also been confirmed for three of the group’s core brands: Blue Spring Imports for Moskovskaya Vodka, Pacific Edge Wine and Spirits for Kah Tequila and Espiritus for Riga Black Balsam. Seymour Ferreira, CEO at Amber Beverage Group, said: “We responded very quickly to the Covid-19 crisis by working hard to manage our costs and our core business through expanding our e-commerce significantly and introducing innovative online activities for our core brands, which proved to be very successful. We have been focusing our attention on delivering exceptional performance in the off-premise and gaining increased distribution and secondary displays; getting every detail right has paid off. “We are very pleased with how all of our brands and businesses have been performing in recent months and look forward to achieving further growth over the coming year."
