Stock Spirits enjoys upgrade boost

The group continues to see good growth in Poland, driven mainly by demand for premium brands from millennial customers. In March, bosses blamed a “shift” in promotional activity in Stocks’ second-largest market – the Czech Republic – for sluggish volume growth. But six months on, that market is now in recovery, with sales up by 13 per cent to €73.2m (£64.6m). Tough trading conditions are still affecting growth in Italy, but seeing as the country only accounts for around 9 per cent of Stocks’ entire business, chief executive Mirek Stachowicz says he isn’t too concerned. But he is “committed to fixing the problem”, and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of an acquisition in what’s considered a highly-fragmented market.  

Analysts at Numis were so impressed by these numbers they revised forecasts up, and now expect sales growth of 4 per cent this year (versus 2 per cent previously). That should lead to pre-tax profits of €48.3m for the year ending September 2019, giving EPS of 17.6¢ (from €45.6m and 16.7¢ in FY2018).