There has been plenty to cheer about for The Artisanal Spirits Company this year.
The owner of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society has seen membership of the prestigious club increase to more than 40,000 in the year it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
It has made progress on the world stage, opening a new subsidiary in the huge whisky market of Taiwan, established a new franchise in South Korea, and struck new franchise deals in Malaysia and Singapore.
At home, it took the significant step of opening the Masterton Bond in Uddingston, a logistical nerve centre from where all of its bottling and despatch activities are now carried out, and whisky stocks are held to mature.
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These are all key building blocks which will doubtless serve Artisanal, which operates rooms for society members in Leith, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London, well in the long run, as forecasts all seem to point to demand for Scotch whisky continuing to rise in the years and decades to come.
But, as the company discovered today, the stock market can often take a shorter-term view.
Artisanal issued an update to the market this morning in which it warned profits and revenue would be lower this year than previously forecast. It cited two main reasons for the change. In China, its performance has been “weaker” in the fourth quarter than anticipated, with November proving to be especially tough, in part because of a tough comparison with the same month in 2022, but also because of a general softness in the market.
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The other reason for the profit warning was because sales of its new 50th anniversary member cask programme (the Society was established in 1983) which launched at the end of November had not reached the rate anticipated.
As one might expect, Artisanal has conviction that both the market in China and its member cask programme will deliver for the company in the longer term.
But, in a stock market world where attention spans can be shorter, a more brutal judgement was delivered today, with shares in Artisanal plunging more than 20% in early trading before recovering some of their poise. It can be a cruel world, but that is the environment that the company has chosen to operate within.
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