Fever-Tree FY15 profit increases helped by growing demand

By Staff Writer

Mar 15, 2016 06:56 AM EDT

Fever-Tree, a London-based drink mixers maker, on Monday, announced its earnings results for the year ended December 31, 2015. The company also announced that EasyJet has selected its 150ml "naturally light tonic cans" to the on-board tonic list. Fever-Tree's customer list includes British Airways, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose.

The company earned a pre-tax profit of £16.8 million for the year 2015, up from £2.5 million in the previous year. Profit attributable to stakeholders of the parent company ramped up to £13.3 million from £1.3 million in 2014.

Earnings per share rose to 11.48 pence from 1.54 pence in the year ended December 31, 2014. Annual operating profit climbed to £17.3 million from £8.1 million in the previous year.  Adjusted EBITDA for the year amounted to £18.2 million, compared to £10.01 million in 2014.

Gross profit jumped to £30.9 million from £17.66 million in the previous year. Fever-Tree's annual revenue totalled £59.2 million in 2015, an increase of 71% from £34.7 million in 2014. Gross margin grew to 52.1% from 50.9% in the previous year, helped by the company's logistics efficiencies and production.

The company's UK business arm accomplished revenue growth of 84% mainly due to the robust result during the final six-month period of 2015. Sales in the company's US division increased by 65% while revenues in Europe jumped by 66%.

Fever-Tree also recommended a final dividend of 2.30 pence a share. The company noted that the dividend will be paid on May 6, 2016, to shareholders whose register date falls on April 8, 2016. The mixer maker said it remains positive regarding its financial position through 2016.

According to market researchers, the company has nearly 50% of market share valued at £340 million in the mixers industry. Fever-Tree's 150ml tonic can cost 70% more than the equivalent product of Schweppes. Nearly 40% of off-trade revenues comes from Naturally Light Tonic.

The company's new 150ml tonic cans are currently available in Club World cabins, First Class section in British Airways and across its lounges. Sales from ginger beer constitute 40% of revenues in the US, as reported by Financial Times.

Meanwhile, experts at Investec fixed an objective price of 740 pence for shares of Fever-Tree and also reiterated their 'buy' rating for the share. Nicola Mallard, an analyst at Investec, commented that the company's result was boosted by strong performance in the UK division. Mallard added, "There remain ample opportunities for further penetration gains in all geographies and in both on- and off-trade channels," as reported by DigitalLook.

Analysts view recent deals with EasyJet, British Airways and Marks & Spencer as growth drivers that propelled the company's profit during the year. Shares of Fever-Tree increased 0.47% to 584.72 pence. The company remains positive with respect to the future of its balance sheet amid horrible economic conditions.

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