Mackmyra builds on whisky sales growth

Swedish whisky distiller Mackmyra saw its sales surge 32% in 2016 Q4, propelling the producer to its eighth quarter of consecutive growth.

Full-year sales were up 18%, driven by bottle sales and increased visitor numbers to the distillery.

Sales excluding alcohol hit SEK73.4 million (about US$8.1m), up from SEK62.1m (US$6.9m) in 2015.

Highlights included “significant” sales successes in Europe, in particular in the priority export markets of Germany, France and the UK.

Sales to Systembolaget, Sweden’s government-owned liquor stores, increased 14% largely driven by the Mack single malt expression, the brand said.

Despite the sales hike, profitability remains challenging. While reporting an SEK3.7m (US$409,000) improvement, the brand occurred an operating loss of SEK13.6m (US$1.5m) for the year.

Cash flow was weaker due to increased distillation activities over the year. However the brand says it achieved a positive cash flow of around SEK2.8m (US$310,000) in the second half of the year.

Bottle sales in 2016 exceeded 281,000, the highest since the brand was founded in 1999.

In 2015, Mackmyra proposed a rights issue to raise funds to accelerate its distribution and distillation growth plans.