MANILA -Billionaire Andrew Tan-led liquor giant Emperador Inc. booked stable profits during the first semester of the year despite inflationary pressures while revenues pushed higher on strong whiskey sales.
“Our international business is constantly showing stellar performance driven by the single malt whisky portfolio, which continues to be among the fastest growing single malts in the world,” Emperador president Winston Co said in a statement.
From January to June, Emperador’s net income ended at P4.7 billion, lower by 2 percent, while revenues jumped 11 percent to P31 billion.
“The whisky segment’s growth was driven by Emperador’s compelling whisky portfolio, which continued to grow at double-digit rates in the first six months of 2023,” said the company, which owns Scotch whisky producer, Whyte and Mackay.
“The key markets that saw strong double-digit growth rates were Asia and United States,” Emperador added.
Emperador earlier set a full-year capital spending budget of P7 billion, with 85 percent expected to go to the whisky business. Its ongoing projects include the expansion of its whisky maturation complex at Invergordon Distillery in Scotland.
Emperador earlier said this would allow it to store additional 1.5 million casks of maturing hard liquor.
Higher costs
Meanwhile, brandy sales booked growth during the period, although the segment was among those impacted by higher costs.
“And while the brandy segment is facing some headwinds, reinvigorating efforts are in place to ensure long-term growth. After posting banner performances for three consecutive years in 2020, 2021 and 2022, our company believes that 2023 will continue to be a better year,” Co said.
Emperador, which Tan started a small liquor factory in Manila in 1979, is a global liquor conglomerate whose products are available in over 100 countries across six continents. INQ