G&T sales were a washout this summer, warns Fever-Tree

Fever-Tree, the maker of upmarket tonics and sodas, has reduced its full-year revenue forecast after a dismal start to summer took the shine off sales.
The mixers group said it was affected by unseasonable weather in the UK in the second quarter, with softer demand for gin exacerbating a flat performance, although it bounced back in July and August.
Shares of Fever-Tree, which said UK sales in bars, pubs and restaurants had also been hit by weak consumer confidence, fell by 56.5p, or 6.6 per cent, to 806p.
Announcing first-half results, the company said it was nevertheless growing market share in all its key regions while continuing to diversify its portfolio to cater for evolving consumer preferences.
Fever-Tree was established 20 years ago by Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls to make high-quality tonic for the premium gin market. It sells its mixers in 95 countries, with America, Canada, Australia and Germany among its biggest markets.
It has more recently branched out into flavoured sodas, adult soft drinks and cocktail mixers, its most recent being a mixer for mojito cocktails. Non-tonic products now account for more than 40 per cent of global revenues, driven by strong growth in sales of ginger beer.
Asked whether the agreed takeover of Britvic by Carlsberg might point to a similar fate for Fever-Tree, Warrillow insisted: “It’s clearly not what we’re angling for. But what is very interesting for us is the wider distribution opportunities.”
In the first half, Fever-Tree reported a 2 per cent increase in revenue to £170.6 million, with the UK down 6 per cent to £50.9 million and Europe down 12 per cent to £44.5 million. The US was up 7 per cent to £60.3 million, and revenues for the rest of the world were 57 per cent higher at £14.9 million.
Underlying earnings in the first half jumped by 79 per cent to £18.2 million, and the company declared a dividend up 2 per cent at 5.85p per share.
Warrillow, 49, who remains chief executive, said the group had “performed well against a tough market backdrop”, notably in the US and rest of world regions, but the first-half performance in the UK and Europe had been impacted by unseasonable weather at the start of summer. The on-trade — bars and restaurants — was also hit by low consumer confidence.
However, he said that the situation had improved strongly “as the summer belatedly arrived”, adding: “Whilst the first half was challenging, we are controlling the controllables … We’re optimistic of an acceleration of growth across the second half of the year and have seen a much more positive trading performance in July and August.”
He said that the company expected to deliver brand growth for the second half of between 7 per cent and 10 per cent, resulting in revenue growth of 4 per cent to 5 per cent for the full year — below the 10 per cent initially projected in March.
Although the US is now Fever-Tree’s biggest market, Warrillow said there were no plans to move its listing to Wall Street. “We’ve had a number of approaches about that, but we’re British and very proud to be. We’re very happy where we are.”