LOCH Lomond Distillers has declared its commitment to continued international growth as it revealed rising exports had powered a near-five per cent hike in turnover in its most recent financial year.
And the Alexandria-based distiller, whose brands include the Loch Lomond, Glen Scotia and Littlemill single malts, underlined its stance that Brexit would not hamper its global ambitions. But it maintained its call, first outlined in January, for businesses to be given clarity over Brexit, and for the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU) to be well-managed.
The firm, owned by the private equity group Exponent, booked turnover of £52.9 million for the year ended September 30, up from £50.5m, according to accounts newly-filed at Companies House.
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Turnover in international markets, outside the UK and mainland Europe, increased to nearly £18m from £13.8m, while European revenue dipped to £7.1m from £7.5m. Sales generated in Loch Lomond’s dominant UK market decreased to £27.8m from £29.3m, the accounts state.
Writing in the accounts, chief executive Colin Matthews declared that “our brands continue to develop attractively in multiple markets around the world”. And he said the firm was on track to release its first gin – which will be marketed under the Ben Lomond brand – “in the next few months”.
Loch Lomond brands are available in around 120 countries, as well as travel retail outlets, with key markets including the UK, Europe, China, Taiwan, Russia, Australia and the US.
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Although the accounts highlight a leap in turnover, they state that the distiller again made a bottom line loss.
Mr Matthews, a former managing director of Imperial Tobacco, noted that the £10.1m loss, which followed a £10m reverse last time, reflects the structure of the deal which saw Exponent acquire the historic company from the Bulloch family for around £210m in March 2014. The deal was based on a “sale of assets rather than a sale of shares”.
The accounts show the value of stock held by the company stood at £114.2m at September 30, broadly in line with the year before.
Declaring that the loss “does not reflect the underlying performance of the business,” Mr Matthews said: “While this was the optimum deal structure from a legal and tax perspective, it means that the statutory accounts record the cost of maturing stock produced before 28 February 2014 in the profit and loss account at its market value (i.e. the cost at which the stock was acquired as part of the acquisition) rather than at production cost value.”
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Loch Lomond said it benefited in international markets from the first year of its sponsorship of The Open and the Ricoh Women’s British Open, as official whisky to the golf events.
The company also reported “exceptional” global demand for stocks of its rare Littlemill malt, which was made at the now demolished Littlemill Distillery in Bowling, West Dunbartonshire. A global marketing campaign is under way for Glen Scotia, made in one of the few remaining distilleries in Campbeltown, while Loch Lomond said its Glen’s Vodka retained its position as the second-best-selling vodka in the UK.
The accounts show the firm’s average headcount edged up to 218 from 217, with staff costs dipping to £9.4m from £9.6m.
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