Tullibardine Profits As Sales Soar

[John]

The company responsible for rejuvenating the Tullibardine whisky distillery has recorded its first full-year operating profit on the back of a 200%-plus surge in sales.

Tullibardine, which is based in the Perthshire village of Blackford, said it had made an operating profit of £512,000 for the year to the end of May 2008 - and that result was "considerably ahead of budget".

The company also said that the distillery was operating "at its full expanded capacity of 2.7 million litres in 2007-2008".

Tullibardine distillery had been mothballed for a decade until it was rescued by a four-man consortium of entrepreneurs in 2003. Doug Ross, a director and one of the four founders at Tullibardine, said: "We are very, very pleased with these results.

"Last year was a great year for us and it's exciting to see Tullibardine become increasingly recognised in a wider market."

However, he added: "We now have to face very testing market conditions, not least in the cost of malted barley which has increase by 58% year-on-year.

"In spite of last year's healthy result, we are very aware of the current climate and future economic forecasts, and realise it is not a time to become complacent."

No pre-tax profit or precise turnover figure was provided in the company's latest accounts, because the firm filed under special Companies Act provisions, which allow small companies to produce abbreviated financial statements.

Ross, who also declined to provide the pre-tax profit and sales figures, said turnover had climbed 203%.

However, he added that the biggest growth in Tullibardine sales last year had occurred in Canada, where the whisky has become increasingly popular, but he said there was also significant growth in Taiwan and in Scandinavia. "The demand for quality malt has not changed - the appetite is still enormous - but these are also difficult economic times.

"Tullibardine is not a cheap and cheerful, high value-low price whisky. We are at the quality end of the market."

Founders Ross and Michael Beamish came up with the plan to buy the distillery in 1999 after meeting on a golf course, and later brought in Glasgow accountants Alastair Russell and Alan Williamson for their business acumen.

Backed by Barclays Bank, the quartet acquired Tullibardine for an undisclosed sum from Jim Beam Brands, now Whyte & Mackay, which had decommissioned the place in 1993 because of overcapacity.

Their plans for Tullibardine included a £10m combined whisky-retail tourism complex on the grounds of the old distillery, just off the A9.

The site, which boasts a flagship outlet of Baxters foods, was later offloaded to property developer Kenmore.

Meanwhile, Ross yesterday remained sanguine about the future.

He said: "Although the future market will be demanding, the buoyant financial year reports, followed by a strong first half of 2008-2009, have provided a needed boost and the revenue to face the present economic downturn."

At the same time, the company's accounts noted that the directors had given "personal guarantees to Barclays Bank in respect of the bank facilities" - with Ross guaranteeing £66,000, Williamson and Beamish guaranteeing £33,000 and Russell guaranteeing £17,000.

John

Source: Sunday Herald