Reduced turnover and lower profits for Lucas Bols

Both turnover and profits were in decline over the past six months at Dutch spirits manufacturer Lucas Bols. The disappointing results are due to temporary import restrictions in West Africa and fewer gin sales in the Netherlands.

Exchange rates

In particular, the company’s local brands underperformed, with sales reduced by 11.1 % as they had to deal with import restrictions in West Africa and lower gin sales in the Netherlands during the summer,” analyst Alan Vandenberghe explains in Belgian business newspaper De Tijd.

Bols reached a turnover of 47.8 million euros between April and October, 2 % lower than the previous year. This was partly due to currency effects, which negatively impacted the results by 0.9 million euros. In the same period, the oldest distillery in the world saw its net profits drop by almost 10 % to 7.9 million euros.

Expectations

CEO Huub van Doorne pointed out that sales did rise considerably in the United States and in China; and claims that the company has succeeded in stabilising the overall result, despite difficult circumstances in fledgling markets. This explanation however could not stop the share from plunging 8 % last Tuesday.

For the second half of the financial year, Lucas Bols is counting on a further increase of its turnover growth for its worldwide labels. Local labels, such as the Dutch gins and brands like Pisang Ambon and Coebergh, will likely keep struggling. Bols is also taking the negative impact of currency effects into account, expecting them to cost the company 1.2 million euros in total this year.