Emperador adds 470 hectares to vineyard in Spain

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Emperador Inc. is bullish on its international businesses after widening its footprint in Spain, with the liquor giant seeing continued expansion in the next five years.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Emperador said it had acquired 470 hectares (ha) more of vineyard in Spain, allowing it to “dramatically boost” its grape farming capacity, which is at 17 million kilograms annually. Before this, its portfolio in Spain spanned 1,500 ha.

The company reported a 7-percent increase in volume and 10.8-percent growth in value in the first quarter.

Spanish brandy Terry Centenario provided the boost. The spirits market in Spain, however, went down by 6.3 percent.

READ: Andrew Tan’s Emperador buys Spain’s Fundador

Emperador grew its net income during the period by 6.5 percent to P1.85 billion.
“Our ongoing expansions in the United Kingdom, Spain and Mexico are testaments to our unwavering resolve to pursue our global aspirations,” Emperador president and CEO Winston Co said in their disclosure.
In Mexico, the brandy and whisky conglomerate took over 60 percent of Mexican mezcal maker Los Danzantes SA de CV for P225 million.

READ: Emperador takes over premium liquor maker in Mexico

The capital injection, equivalent to 80 million Mexican pesos, will be used mainly to develop the distribution and promotion of Los Danzantes’ brands, including Alipus. These brands will be available in the Philippines within 2025.

Meanwhile, Emperador is also doubling the production capacity of its Dalmore distillery in Scotland. Its Invergordon distillery will also double its footprint to 92 ha from 45.4 ha currently, expanding its capacity by 1.5 million casks.

Emperador was among the Philippine companies that warned of the negative impact of US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on their businesses.

For its part, Emperador said it had anticipated the whisky environment “to be challenging, especially with the new trade policies from the US.”

Emperador exports whisky to the United States via Scotland-based Whyte and Mackay, which also distributes Dalmore.

Trump imposed a 10-percent baseline duty on all goods coming from the United Kingdom, including Scotland. INQ