The company has revealed a c. £1 million year on year increase in EBITDA vs the first half of 2023.

In its latest trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024, the firm said that the trading conditions and consumer purchasing behaviour witnessed in FY23 have continued in H1 24 and ASC continues to focus on maintaining a high quality, committed and engaged global membership which will underpin sustainable, long-term revenue and profit growth.

The firm said its increasing global footprint with launches in new markets such as Taiwan, the acquisition of Single Cask Nation (SCN) in January of this year and the development of our members’ cask sales programme, enables ASC to mitigate the Group’s exposure to any given market, such as China where trading continues to be challenging. With a larger, more diversified business, China is increasingly proportionately smaller for the Group.

However, group revenue was broadly flat in H1-24, but SMWS membership was broadly stable and year on year costs were reduced.

As the company focuses on the FY24 consensus EBITDA delivery of £1m, the business priorities remain driving quality membership growth through international development and initiatives such as ‘Membership and a Bottle’, a product range review which will simplify and optimise its offer to members, our members’ cask sales programme now available internationally, further growth from SCN and continued cost efficiency management.

Andrew Dane, CEO of Artisanal Spirits Company, commented: “While trading conditions remain challenging in a few markets, we are pleased with the ongoing improvement in year-on-year profitability in H1 and remain focussed on delivering the full year consensus EBITDA expectations of £1m and ensuring sustainable profitability over time.

“ASC’s proven strategy of investing in whisky stock has built an impressive inventory which will satisfy our requirements well into the next decade, as well as delivering a significant uplift in value creation, and whilst we have an independent expert valuation estimate of just over £100m today for the casks, the business is focussed on generating maximum value creation through maturing and bottling these premium whiskies which ultimately delivers a multiple on the cask value, with estimated future retail value in bottles of almost £0.5 billion.”

“Furthermore, with our cask levels now reaching an optimal level, we have reached a turning point in the cash investment requirement in the business. Historic levels of investment in whisky stocks are no longer required as we transition to purchasing on a replacement basis to satisfy future growth demands, representing a very positive inflection point for the cash profile of the Group.”