Higher prices create stabile turnover for Spadel

Spa in a tough spot

Spadel’s
water brands are in a tough spot, with competition on the lower end of
the scale from the house brands and pressure on the higher end of the
scale as well. The fact that Spadel has managed to
stabilize its turnover in the first half of the year, can be attributed
to a price hike.

The
company mostly known for its Spa and Bru labels, saw an increase in
worth of its natural mineral water destined for Belgian home consumption
with 0.8 %, even though it dropped in volume 0.6%. Sparkling water was
the driving force of this increase, helping the company increase its
turnover 3%, despite a slight drop in market share.

Its
Dutch market share also dropped, partly because distributor Superunie boycotted its brands for a while. Sales volumes have been on the rise from the middle
of April onwards, towards their former levels, but Spadel still had to
take a seven percent hit to its turnover in the Netherlands.

Purchases spur growth in France

Consumption
of Spadel’s natural mineral water destined for home consumption
declined in France (-3.3 % in worth and 1.5 % in volume), with only the
Wattwiller brand increasing sales by 2 %.

The importance of the French market has increased now that Spadel purchased
Les Eaux Minérales de Ribeauvillé from Nestlé in the beginning of July.
Les Eaux realized a turnover of 16.3 million euro in 2012.

30 % profit increase

Financially
it has been a good first half year for Spadel, as net profits increased
30.2 %, reaching 6.056 million euro as margins
were increased because of higher prices and lower costs. Spadel saved
5.8 % on resources, 3.1 % on goods and services and 3% on personnel.
These numbers lead Spadel to believe that the full-year results for 2013
will outperform those of 2012.