Alfonso maker is Lucio Co’s ticket to int’l liquor expansion

Retail tycoon Lucio Co-led The Keepers Holdings Inc. is taking a big leap from domestic liquor distribution to international liquor production by buying 50 percent of the 140-year-old Spanish distillery that produces Alfonso brandy.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, Keepers said its board of directors had approved on Aug. 26 a plan to acquire 50 percent of Jerez-based Bodegas Williams & Humbert SA.

Aside from brandy, the Spanish firm also produces rum, vodka, wine and gin, among others.

Isla Lipana & Co. was tapped to provide a fairness opinion for the transaction.

Alfonso is Keepers’ flagship brand, which accounts for 60 percent of its total revenues. Through subsidiary Montosco Inc., the group has been the exclusive Philippine importer and distributor of Alfonso brandy.

Keepers’ parent firm, Cosco Capital, has been working to gain a foothold in Bodegas Williams since 2018.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said this plan would “expand the geographical/market reach and scope of the group for its liquor operations, thereby achieving better economies of scale.”

“Through the acquisition, this may prompt the company’s income to climb, and could likely be a good catalyst for the stock price to accelerate in the subsequent days,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan added.

In the first half, Keepers sold 2.11 million cases of liquor, 1.57 million of which was accounted for by its brandy segment.

Net sales in January to June grew by 27.4 percent to P5.5 billion from P4.3 billion a year ago. Six-month net income, meanwhile, was up around 40 percent to P980.7 million from last year’s P702.8 million for the period.

“The strong growth in sales is attributable to the robust sales performance from all categories particularly the recovering demand and consumption from the on-premise channel as well as the gradually increasing demand from the travel retail market resulting from the easing community restrictions,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

Apart from brandy, Keepers also sells wines, specialty beverages and other spirits.

The listed firm’s working capital rose to P12.8 billion as of end-June from P11.8 billion on Dec. 31, 2021. Total assets, meanwhile, stood at P14.55 billion. INQ