Maxxium cashes in on premium brands as profits surge 50%

WINE and spirits distributor Maxxium has posted a 50 per cent surge in profits after the Stirling-based company began selling more premium brands.

Accounts filed at Companies House showed that the firm - which is jointly owned by Perth-based Edrington Group and US drinks giant Beam - posted a pre-tax profit of 3.8 million in the year to 31 March, up from about 2.6m.

Turnover also rose by 50 per cent to 210m as Maxxium grew sales of its core brands, took over responsibility for distributing more of its owners' products and set up a travel retail business, selling drinks at airports.

Edrington produces whiskies including the Famous Grouse, the Macallan and Highland Park, while Illinois-based Beam makes a range of drinks including Teachers blended Scotch, Laphroaig single malt and Courvoisier cognac.

The firm also distributes products made by third parties, including Stolichnaya vodka, Bols liqueurs and the student favourite After Shock.

Writing in the directors' report, company secretary Jeremy Chaplin said: "The directors are satisfied with the performance of the company during the year.

"The growth in the core brand portfolio was significantly ahead of the spirits market and this delivered strong underlying growth in revenue and profit."

The accounts mark the first full year's trading since Maxxium went through major restructuring. French drinks giant Pernod Ricard pulled its Vin & Spirit brands - including Absolut Vodka - out of the sales, marketing and distribution alliance in 2008, while fellow French producer Remy Cointreau followed suit in 2009.

The company said the sales boost it had received by taking on distribution of its owners' high-end brands should continue.

The latest accounts showed the number of staff jumped from 206 to 247 following the restructuring and the launch of the travel retail business, while the pay package for the highest-paid director - likely to be managing director Huw Pennell - rose from 208,000 to 232,000. Further changes could lie ahead to the set up of Edrington and Beam's alliance, which also operates in the Asia-Pacific and Americas regions.

Last month, Fortune Brands - which owns Beam - announced plans to split itself into three distinct businesses, covering spirits, golf and home securities.

At the time, some analysts speculated that floating off Beam as a separate entity was part of a plan to make the business more attractive to potential buyers.

Commentators suggested Diageo - Scotland's largest whisky producer and the owner of brands including Bell's, Johnnie Walker and Talisker - could join forces with rivals Pernod Ricard and Bacardi to break up Beam.