Stock Spirits responds to complaints from Amaral's Western Gate

Stirring after a five month ceasefire, a major shareholder in Stock Spirits has criticised the "ongoing poor corporate governance" of the distilling company after it cancelled an open day with investors.

Western Gate Investments, the 9.7% shareholder owned by Portuguese cash and carry magnate Luis Amaral, whose Eurocash business is Stock Spirits largest client, highlighted the size and cost of the company's board after it was last week expanded to nine members and bemoaned the exclusion of two new appointments from directorial committees.

Shareholders, including Amaral, were invited to an investor day on 19 September but the company decided that such an event was "unnecessary" having received "feedback that our strategy and investment case are well understood”.

Stock Spirits insisted that while it had "considered" such a day, no formal invitations had been sent, and in the end it decided that it "would not currently be the best use of management’s time".

In April Amaral first demanded a boardroom shakeup, which led to chief executive Chris Heath taking early retirement and being replaced on an interim basis by non-executive Mirek Stachowicz, who was confirmed as full time replacement in August.

With the company having last updated the market on trading, Western Gate on Monday said demanded a third-quarter trading update in November, "so that shareholders can judge the impact of its turnaround programme for the core Polish business".

"Shareholders will have waited two years for this turnaround since the company’s first disastrous profit warning on 5 November 2014.

"We also ask that the update explains what the company is doing to address its excessive head office costs, which if anything look to be increasing now the board has been expanded to nine people.”

Stock Spirits responded that since its IPO the individual fees for non-executive directors have remained unchanged and the "vast majority" of investors were "happy with the level of disclosure" it was providing around financial and operational performance.

"None of our investors would expect us to give selective disclosure of this kind, and particularly not when the information is of a commercially sensitive nature and would be provided to a shareholder who is also a valued customer of Stock Spirits."

On the composition of board committees, the company said the two Western Gate appointees, Alberto Da Ponte and Randy Pankevicz, were not excluded from attendance or participation in any of the board meetings or committees.

"Since their appointment they have been invited to all board committee meetings, and are playing an active role in all of the board’s decision-making and discussions.”