Distil stumbles as revenues drip a third lower

Distil's shares dived on Tuesday after fourth quarter revenues and volumes each dropped by roughly a third, which the premium drinks brand owner attributed to a third quarter stock build up.

The AIM traded company, which owns brands such as RedLeg Spiced Rum, Blackwoods Gin and Vodka, Blavod Black Vodka, Jago's Cream Liqueur and Diva Vodka, said that unaudited year-on-year revenues and volumes for the three month period ended 31 March were 33% and 32% lower, respectively, though in line with expectations.

Don Goulding, executive chairman of Distil, said: "Our fourth quarter result was in line with expectations following a very strong third quarter performance where we increased marketing acitivity and shipments to our distributors. We anticipate full year performance for the year ended 31 March 2019 to be in line with current market expectations and look forward to reporting our full year preliminary results in June 2019."

The three month period also saw Distil focus on brand marketing, increasing its year-on-year spend by 10%, while sales from distributors to the trade continued to grow as year-on-year volumes increased by 10%.

"We expect continued growth in our core Rum and Gin markets during 2019 and will continue to invest in our brand marketing to grow our market share. In March we announced the launch of our new RedLeg variant, sales of which commence in the on-trade in early June," said Goulding.

Distil's shares were down 11.90% at 1.85p at 0835 BST.