27th Jan 2022 11:50
(Alliance News) - Premium tonic water maker Fevertree Drinks PLC on Thursday said it delivered an "excellent" performance in 2021 with strong growth across all its key markets.
In 2021, Fevertree said it expects to deliver revenue of GBP311 million. This represents a 23% increase on the previous year's figure of GBP252.1 million and is ahead of the company's previous guidance.
The London-based drinks company said business was driven by continued strength in its off-trade channel, which remains ahead of 2019 levels, as well as the return of the on-trade during the second half of the year in most of its markets.
Off-trade channels includes sales to retail outlets such as supermarkets, while on-trade channels include sales to bars and restaurants.
In the UK, revenue grew 15% to GBP118.3 million from GBP103.3 million the previous year. Fevertree said this was ahead of its expectations. The company explained that sales in the UK were growing back towards 2019 levels by November before the emergence of the Omicron variant which knocked back the recovery in the final weeks of the year.
In the US, revenue rose 33% to GBP77.9 million from GBP58.5 million in 2020. The pandemic spurred interest in making long mixed drinks at home, Fevertree said, and it intends to take full advantage of this moving forward.
In Europe, revenue rose 34% to GBP78.8 million in 2021 from GBP59.0 million in 2020 and was "significantly" ahead of expectations. Fevertree said this was driven by continued off-trade progress and the re-opening of on-trade from the end of the second quarter.
Looking forward, Fevertree said it expects off-trade demand to remain at higher levels than pre-pandemic and it is well placed to benefit from this sustained shift in consumer behaviour. It remains confident the on-trade will continue to recover through 2022.
Consequently, Fevertree now estimates revenue will grow to between GBP355 million and GBP365 million in 2022, which would be up as much as 17% from 2021.
However, due to cost headwinds, margins are expected to remain broadly flat in 2022, resulting in an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation range of between GBP69 million and GBP72 million. Adjusted Ebitda was GBP57.0 million in 2020, down from GBP77.0 million in 2019.
Fevertree intends to report its full-year results on March 16.
Shares in Fevertree were down 5.9% at 2,220.00 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; [email protected]
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