Irish whiskey boosts Castle Brands’ Q1 sales

Castle Brands has reported net sales increased 37.8% during the first quarter of the firm’s 2016 fiscal year, bolstered by “strong growth” from its Irish whiskey and Bourbon brands.

Castle Brands reported “strong growth” during the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year

For the three months to the end of June, the company reported net sales of US$16.5 million, compared to US$12m during the same period last year.

Total gross profit grew 45.8% go US$6.6m, against US$4.5m gross profit last year.

Whiskey revenues jumped 106% from the previous year, spearheaded by Jefferson’s Bourbons, and Knappogue and Clontarf Irish whiskeys.

“This was a particularly strong quarter for Castle Brands,” said Richard Lampen, president and chief executive officer of Castle Brands. “We continued to drive sales of our more profitable brands, such as Jefferson’s, Gosling’s and our Irish whiskeys.

“This resulted in strong revenue growth, improved margins, decreased G&A as a percent of revenue, reduced net loss and increased EBITDA, as adjusted.

“We expect these trends of increasing sales and improving financial performance to continue.”

Rum case sales also rose 11.8% from the last year as a result of the growth of Gosling’s rum, “an indication of the growing prominence of the Gosling’s brand”.

“We used a portion of our aged Bourbon reserves to support increased sales of Jefferson’s and its brand extensions, such as Jefferson’s Ocean Aged at Sea,” commented John Glover, chief operating officer of Castle Brands. “After the end of the quarter, we were able to buy additional aged Bourbon to support continued substantial growth of the brand.

“Our whiskey portfolio has also benefited from additions to our Irish whiskey offerings and the initiation of a barrel programme for Knappogue Castle Whiskey.

“We expect significant growth in whiskey sales to continue.”