Edrington sales and profits both show double-digit increase

SPIRITS group Edrington, behind brands including The Famous Grouse and The Macallan, saw double-digit rises in sales and profits last year on the back of continued global expansion.

Group turnover in the year to 31 March rose by 11.5 per cent to 468.3 million with pre-tax profits, before exceptional items, up by 25.1 per cent to 118.6m.

The group, controlled by the Robertson charitable trust which last year donated more than 9m to charities in Scotland, also reduced its total borrowings by just under 40m to 283m.

Chief executive Ian Curle said strong growth from the group's key whisky and rum brands, improved distribution, cost savings and favourable currency rates had all contributed to the performance.

"We remain confident about the long-term growth prospects for premium authentic spirits brands, however, the board remains cautious in its view of trading prospects in the short to medium term, due to challenging market conditions, especially in Europe," he said.

The group's core whisky brands all showed strong growth with Famous Grouse maintaining its position as Scotland's best-selling blended Scotch and The Macallan now the number two single malt by value in the world. Its Brugal golden rum brand continued to show growth in its main export market of Spain and is now market leader.

Curle said during the year stability had returned to a number of its markets but the outlook remained fragile in Europe against a background of high unemployment and substantial government debt.

During the year the company cut costs through the restructuring of its distilling operations and mothballed its Tamdhu facility in Speyside.

The highest-paid director, assumed to be Curle, saw total pay almost double to 1.13m. That included a 442,000 annual bonus and 158,000 under a long-term incentive plan.