FY23 Interim Results to 30 June 2023

This announcement contains inside information

FY23 Interim Highlights

·    Revenue growth of 9% year-on-year, with a standout performance in the US of +40% growth (+32% constant currency) which is now the Group's largest region by revenue contribution.

·    Strong market share performance globally, achieving our highest ever market share by value in the UK.

·    670 bps reduction in gross margin is in-line with our expectations, driven by product cost headwinds, partially offset by efficiency projects.

·    Adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.8% reflects the lower gross margin and phasing of overheads, maintaining our strategy of investing for growth. We therefore expect to drive an improvement in the second half of the year.

·    £3.3m exceptional item relating to a production issue in the US. The issue did not impact customer relationships or our ability to supply the market.

·    Recommending an interim dividend of 5.74 pence per share, an increase of 2% year-on-year.

*includes GDP's portfolio brands

Strategic highlights

·    Very strong revenue growth in the US across all categories, extending our leadership position in Tonic Water and Ginger Beer, with continued positive contribution from our product innovation.

·    Fever-Tree extended its clear market leadership in the UK with its highest ever value share and encouraging initial performance from our range of cocktail mixers and adult soft drinks.

·    Many of the Group's European markets performed well against strong comparators, growing our leadership position to two thirds of the premium mixer category across the region.

·    First half revenue for ROW region reflects a one-off inventory buy-back as part of the transition to our new subsidiary set-up in Australia, positioning us to further drive the opportunity ahead in that market.

·    Good progress on key operational initiatives and softening inflationary headwinds underpins our confidence in significant year-on-year margin recovery in 2024.

Outlook and guidance

Whilst we expect to deliver continued good growth in FY23, most notably in the US, our sales performance since period-end has been impacted by the unseasonably poor weather in the UK which has subdued the wider category over the key summer trading period. Therefore, alongside the impact of the inventory buyback in Australia, we now expect to deliver FY23 revenue of between £380m to £390m.

We are making good progress with the mitigation of inflationary cost challenges and are reiterating our gross margin guidance of 31% to 33% for FY23. We remain committed to investing in the substantial future opportunity for the brand across our regions and expect overheads to be in the range £88m to £92m resulting in FY23 EBITDA guidance range of c.£30m to £36m.

Looking ahead to 2024, due to a combination of softening inflationary headwinds and the benefit of the actions we are taking this year, we are confident of delivering significant margin improvement, setting up the Group for strong, profitable growth going forward. Reflecting the momentum in our key growth regions, we are comfortable with current market revenue growth rate expectations for 2024 and expect to deliver an improved FY24 EBITDA margin of c.15%, which is ahead of current market expectations.

Tim Warrillow, CEO of Fever-Tree, commented:

"Fever-Tree delivered good revenue growth in the first half of 2023. We had a standout performance in the US where the brand continues to go from strength to strength, extending our leadership position in the Tonic and Ginger Beer categories. This reflects how well established the brand is becoming in the world's largest premium spirit market.

In the UK, despite the challenging macro-economic conditions, we ended the first half with our highest ever value share of 45%, which is over 50% higher than our nearest competitor. I have been hugely encouraged by the response to our new innovation, specifically our range of cocktail mixers and adult soft drinks, as shown by the significant and growing listings across both channels. Our European business is growing in depth and breadth and the recent step changes we have made in our route to market across Australia, Canada and Japan reflect the growing potential we see in our Rest of World region.

Whilst the vagaries of the British summer weather have impacted sales since period end, contributing to our revised guidance for the full year, the Group still expects to deliver good growth in the reminder of 2023. Looking ahead to 2024, with a stronger global market position than ever before, a broader product portfolio and our confidence in delivering significant margin improvement, the Group is well set up for strong, profitable growth going forward."  

There will be live audio webcast on Tuesday 12^th September 2023 at 10:00am BST. The webcast can be accessed via:

Fever-Tree FY23 Interim Results webcast

For more information please contact:

Investor queries

Ann Hyams, Director of Investor Relations I [email protected] I +44 (0)7435 828 138

Media queries

Oliver Winters, Director of Communications I [email protected] I +44 (0)770 332 9024

Nominated Advisor and Broker - Investec Bank plc

David Flin I Alex Wright I +44 (0)20 7597 5970

Corporate Broker - Morgan Stanley & Co, International plc

Andrew Foster I Jessica Pauley I +44 (0)20 7425 8000

Financial PR advisers - FGS Global

Faeth Birch +44 (0)7768 943 171; Anjali Unnikrishnan +44 (0) 7826 534 233

This announcement contains inside information. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Andy Branchflower, CFO

Strategic update

Fever-Tree delivered revenue of £175.6m, an increase of 9% year-on-year, with particularly strong growth in the US driven by continued distribution gains and innovation. Whilst our UK sales have been impacted since period end by the effects of the unseasonably poor weather on the wider category, the first half saw the brand continue to grow its market share and deliver very encouraging early signs from the launch of our range of cocktail mixers as well as increasing distribution of our adult soft drinks.  Good momentum continues in Europe, and whilst the Rest of World revenue was impacted by the one-off inventory buyback as part of the change in distribution model in Australia, this is not reflective of underlying performance or the confidence we have in the region moving forward.

As well as our focus on topline growth, we are continuing to take proactive steps to mitigate cost headwinds and drive efficiencies. As previously announced, whilst we are experiencing significant margin dilution in the current year, most notably due to materially elevated glass costs, we are confident that we will see margin improvement in the second half and are reiterating our gross margin guidance for the full year. Furthermore, the steps we are taking this year, alongside softening inflationary headwinds, will ensure that we drive material margin improvement in 2024.

We have recognised a £3.3 million exceptional cost in the first half results which relates to issues during US production which arose towards the end of the first half. This was ring-fenced to specific production batches and has not impacted customer relationships or our ability to supply the market. Going forward, we are confident that our US supply chain strategy is robust with appropriate flexibility and contingencies in place.

We are very pleased with our underlying strategic performance.  Innovation remains the cornerstone of the brand and is driving growth across all our regions. Adult soft drinks are gaining distribution and starting to contribute to total growth in the UK, cocktail mixers are showing positive signs following their launch in the UK and US earlier this year, and Blood Orange Ginger Beer has been our fastest growing new product since its US launch in Autumn 2022, extending the category into exciting new flavours. We continue to evolve our route to market to capture current and future growth markets. Over the past twelve months we have announced the set-up of our own subsidiary operation in Australia and new distribution partnerships in Japan and Canada.

The Group has continued to make good progress across its sustainability initiatives in the first six months of 2023. We have finalised our UK product carbon footprint for 2022 which has shown a reduction in both absolute and per litre emissions, reflecting our on-going focus on reducing the impact our products have on the environment throughout our supply chain.

2023 also marks the tenth year of our partnership with Malaria No More UK. The fight against malaria remains at the very heart of the Fever-Tree brand given the role quinine plays in anti-malaria medication and the fact many of the communities where Fever-Tree sources its ingredients also experience the devastating effects of malaria. We are proud to have supported the incredible work undertaken by Malaria No More UK for a decade and are focused on sponsoring initiatives that are making a difference to those communities most impacted by the disease.

UK I Broadening the portfolio and extending our leadership of the mixer category

Fever-Tree delivered UK revenue of £53.8m in the first half of the year, an increase of 1% year-on-year, driven by a slight increase in On-Trade revenue and flat Off-Trade revenue. Despite the challenging macro-economic environment, crucially, we have extended our clear leadership position of the UK mixer category, with c.45% value share across the On- and Off-Trade combined, over twenty times the nearest premium mixer brand, and over 50% higher than Schweppes[2].

Fever-Tree is outperforming the mixer market in the On-Trade, growing value share by more than 5% since 2019 to over 53%[3] of the total On-Trade mixer value, our highest ever share. As the number one mixer brand in the UK, Fever-Tree is best placed to capitalise on continued spirit category growth and premiumisation, and we are increasingly engaging with spirits companies through co-promotions across a greater number of spirit and mixer occasions, with our broad, diversifying portfolio.

In the Off-Trade, Fever-Tree's sales were flat year-on-year as we lapped tough comparators during the first quarter. The brand has maintained its number one value share position, c.1% ahead of Schweppes and significantly ahead of the next largest premium brand[4]. In fact, Fever-Tree now accounts for over 90% of total premium mixer sales in the Off-Trade⁵, highlighting our strong position in this category.

Over the last year we have extended into two exciting adjacent categories. Firstly, adult soft drinks, where we have established over 9,000 points of distribution at UK retail, delivering value growth of 55% in the first half of the year[5] as we outperform established brands to grow our share within the category.

The first half of the year also saw the launch of our range of cocktail mixers. The initial response has been highly encouraging and we have already secured over 3,000 points of distribution across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, as well as a good presence on Ocado, and a significant number of listings with some of our largest On-Trade customers, including Mitchells & Butlers and Young's.

US I Innovation and distribution gains driving growth

Fever-Tree's revenue for the first half of the year increased by 40% to £56.1m (+32% at constant currency). The brand's strong growth has been driven by gains across all categories and we have extended our number one position in the Tonic Water and Ginger Beer categories in the first half of the year.

Fever-Tree is seeing strong growth in the On-Trade, which is now back, post-COVID, to almost 20% of total US sales. The brand continues to win new mandates and distribution across hotels, dining, sports and nightlife venues, contributing to a 21% increase in our number of On-Trade accounts as we extend our position as the premium mixer of choice in this channel.

Fever-Tree also performed well in the Off-Trade during the first half of the year. Our retail sales increased by 23% year-on-year and by 200% over the last four years, compared to 2019[6]. Value growth is being driven by Tonic and Ginger Beer in absolute terms, as we outpace these two categories, as well as being the fastest growing Grapefruit and Club Soda brand. Consequently, we continue to gain share of the total mixer category, extending our position as the clear premium market leader and driving category growth.

Our multiple drinks strategy has driven our innovation agenda and this remains a critical part of our US growth as we leverage our consumer insights to ensure we are creating mixers to elevate everyday drinking experiences with fast-growing, premiumising spirits. The launches of both our Sparkling Sicilian Lemonade, aimed at Bourbon and Vodka occasions, as well as our Blood Orange Ginger Beer to extend this popular mixer category, have demonstrated the power of our unique approach to innovation.

To further expand our drinks strategy, we have also extended our range into the non-carbonated mixer category, launching Fever-Tree Margarita and Bloody Mary in the first quarter of the year. We have already seen the positive impacts of this, with very positive sell-in of Margarita and Bloody Mary, leading to promising conversations with retailers about further distribution opportunities. The non-carbonated mixer category is a significant long-term opportunity for the brand due to its size, level of premiumisation, brand fragmentation, and similar consumer profile to carbonated mixers.

Alongside innovation and distribution gains, the business is focused on expanding our consumer brand awareness. In the On-Trade, we have focused on making the brand more visible on menus, and creating our own perfect serve menus, in addition to sponsoring five Fever-Tree bars across the country.  At retail, we have become Category Captain at multiple national retail chains, enabling enhanced displays, better activations and thus supporting our many spirit partnerships.

Europe I Growing value share and diversifying the portfolio

The Fever-Tree brand delivered 9% revenue growth across our European markets, slightly ahead of our total European growth of 7%, which includes GDP portfolio brands (4% at constant currency).  Italy and France continue to outperform, with good growth also coming from the Nordics during the first half of the year as we extend our distribution and increase our brand awareness.

Fever-Tree continues to drive premiumisation across Europe. In the Off-Trade, Fever-Tree now has over two-thirds value share of premium mixers and continues to gain share from other premium brands[7]. We are also increasing our share of the total mixer category, with a good performance in France, Norway and Italy, where we have delivered absolute growth of over 20% and gained between one and four percentage points of value share in these markets⁷.

The On-Trade started the year well as the market annualised the first quarter of 2022, which had some restrictions still in place. Both channels have seen good growth compared to pre-Covid levels, contributing to a total sales growth of over 50% since 2019.

Fever-Tree is growing its leadership of the Ginger Beer category, which is popular as a mixer for the Mule serve, pairing well with Vodka, as well as dark spirits. The brand now has more than a third of the value share of Ginger Beer across European retail, almost 10% more than the next largest brand⁷ and we see more opportunity to grow this in the coming years.

We also continue to invest across a range of marketing activities, from traditional above-the-line campaigns to On-Trade activations, social media campaigns, and television adverts, as well as through partnerships and co-promotions at retail to drive incremental distribution, visibility and sales. We have now produced television campaigns in Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Switzerland and launched a prominent out-of-home campaign in Paris which included promotions of our Ginger Beer and Mediterranean Tonic across four thousand billboards around the city.

RoW I Upgrading our route-to-market

Despite making good progress in our Rest of the World Region, revenue of £9.6m is a 36% decrease year-on-year (35% at constant currency). Our reported sales were impacted by a one-off inventory buy-back in Australia, as we established our own subsidiary and transitioned to a new distribution partner in that market, a move which sets us up strongly for the future.

In terms of the brand's trading performance, in Australia Fever-Tree remains the number one premium mixer in this market by a significant margin, with more than 80% value share of the premium mixer category at Australian retail[8]. We continue to win new shelf space, with four new products launched in Woolworths, including 500ml Sparkling Pink Grapefruit, and four new SKUs planned to go on-shelf in Coles following our double-digit growth in the second quarter of the year, along with consistent share gains.

Our new subsidiary set-up in Australia will allow us to take greater control of our sales, marketing and distribution, working alongside a new distribution partner with complimentary ambitions and skillsets. We have already secured a local warehouse and aim to start production with a local bottler during 2024, giving us even more confidence in where we can take the brand in this market.

In Canada, we also made a significant step-change in our route-to-market, transitioning to a new, larger, more experienced distributor last year. Their sales team have already started to support our significant growth ambitions and we look forward to seeing how our partnership will drive further growth for the brand in this market.

In Japan, we started to work with Asahi Breweries as our new distributor and see real potential to expand in this large market over the next few years in both the premium mixer and adult soft drink category. Beyond Japan, we continue to grow our presence across a number of Asian markets, supported by On-Trade activations, prominent retail displays and new product launches.

Operational review

Towards the end of the first half, the Group were made aware that issues during production had potentially impacted certain US inventory batches. Following completion of a programme of testing we subsequently made the decision to permanently quarantine the affected inventory, resulting in a £3.3m stock provision recognised in the first half results. The issue was ring-fenced to specific production batches and did not impact customer relationships or our ability to supply the market.

The Group has made good progress with regards to 2024 glass supply and is at the contracting phase of a UK/European glass tender.  Alongside this, we are well advanced in discussions with a local Australian production partner and are also progressing well with the implementation of our wide-ranging programme to embed technology across our global operations. 

All of these actions further improve supply chain resilience and efficiency, and we look forward to combining continued revenue growth with material margin improvement in 2024 and beyond.

Financial review

Revenue of £175.6m (H1 2022: £160.9m), with growth of 9% (6% at constant currency) included particularly strong growth in the US, where we grew by 40% year-on-year (32% on a constant currency basis).

The Group generated an adjusted EBITDA of £10.2m (H1 2022: £22.0m), a 53.5% decrease year-on-year. As anticipated, gross margins have been impacted by inflationary cost pressures most notably the effect of materially elevated glass pricing in 2023. These headwinds were partially offset by mitigating actions, including pricing actions across regions.

Continued investment behind the brand, our team and our operations, alongside some phasing effects have increased operating expenditure to 24.9% of Group revenue (H1 2022: 23.7%) and as a result, the impacts on gross margin have translated to a reduction in adjusted EBITDA margin to 5.8% (H1 2022: 13.6%).

We expect improving gross margin and overhead phasing to drive an improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin in the second half of the year and are confident of further recovery in 2024 due to a combination of softening inflationary headwinds and the benefit of the actions we are taking this year, setting up the Group for strong, profitable growth going forward.

Working capital remains elevated due to inventory holdings, which alongside the reduction in adjusted EBITDA margin drove negative operating cash flow conversion in the first half and a reduction in cash to £75.8m. We expect improving working capital and adjusted EBITDA margins to combine to drive a return to positive operating cash flow conversion as the year progresses. The balance sheet remains strong and the Board is recommending an interim of dividend of 5.74 pence per share, an increase of 2% year-on-year.  

Gross margin

Gross margin of 30.7% represents a reduction from the 37.4% gross margin reported in the first half of 2022. This was in line with expectations, with significant inflationary cost increases across categories, most notably glass costs, impacting underlying product costs across regions. The Group has taken mitigating actions, including increased pricing across regions, delivering logistics efficiencies and increased US local production, however, this was not sufficient to offset the impact of the inflationary headwinds in the first half.

We expect an improvement in gross margin in the second half of the year, reflecting the full benefit of pricing actions across the period and reducing Trans-Atlantic freight rates.

As outlined in the operational review, we are taking significant steps in 2023 to underpin gross margin improvements in 2024 and beyond, including:

·    Concluding a tender for UK and Europe glass requirements, which, subject to contracting, will realise significant year-on-year improvements in glass costs in 2024, greater co-operation and transparency on energy cost hedging and will underpin security of glass supply.

·    Trans-Atlantic freight rates have materially recalibrated towards historic levels following several years of significantly elevated rates. This will provide the flexibility to supply the US from our UK production network as required, whilst still driving margin improvement.

·    We are in the implementation phase of our wide-ranging programme to embed technology across our global operations, setting us up for 2024 with best-in-class ways of working, data and insights to improve supply chain efficiency and underpin our future growth.

Operating expenditure

Underlying operating expenses increased by 14.3% in the first half of the year to £43.6m (H1 2022: £38.2m) increasing to 24.9% of Group revenue (H1 2022: 23.7%).

Our marketing spend in the first half of the year was 9.9% of Fever-Tree brand revenue (H1 2022: 10.2%) as we continue to invest behind the brand. Activities in the first half included a national UK radio campaign, television advertising in European markets including Italy, Switzerland and The Netherlands, alongside continued execution of retail displays, On-Trade activations and co-promotions with spirits brands across markets globally. Staff costs and other overheads increased by 20.1%, largely driven by the staff cost line as 2022 hires annualised alongside inflationary wage increases, whilst we built head count in Australia ahead of the transition to a subsidiary set-up in that market.  As a result of the investments we have made in our team and technology, we do not anticipate having to increase headcount notably in 2024.

The dilution in gross margin, due to inflationary cost pressures, coupled with increased levels of underlying operating expenditure as a proportion of revenue, has resulted in a retraction in adjusted EBITDA margin to 5.8% (H1 2022: 13.6%). As a result, the Group generated an adjusted EBITDA of £10.2m, a 53.5% decrease on the first half of 2022 (H1 2022: £22.0m). 

Depreciation increased to £3.3m (H1 2021: £1.6m) due to the impact of right-of-use assets capitalised under IFRS 16 in relation to US warehousing. Amortisation remained flat at £0.8m (H1 2022: £0.8m) alongside share-based payments of £2.2m (H1 2022: £2.2m). 

Exceptional items include a £3.3m provision made against quarantined US inventory as set out in the Operational Review. The Group considers this issue to be a one-off, non-recurring item and is considering all recourse available relating to this issue.

As a result of these movements, adjusted EBITDA of £10.2m translates to operating profit of £0.6m (H1 2022: £17.4m). 

Tax

The effective tax rate in the first half of 2023 was 22.0% (H1 2022: 19.8%) and was in line with expectations.

Earnings per share

The basic earnings per share for the period are 1.20 pence (H1 2022: 12.10 pence) and the diluted earnings per share for the period are 1.20 pence (H1 2022: 12.08 pence), a decrease of 90.1%. 

In order to compare earnings per share period on period, earnings have been adjusted to exclude amortisation, exceptional items and the UK statutory tax rates have been applied (disregarding other tax adjusting items). On this basis, normalised basic earnings per share for the first half of 2023 are 3.52 pence (H1 2022: 12.85 pence), a decrease of 74.2%.  

Balance sheet and working capital

Working capital increased to £89.4m (H1 2022: £76.3m), rising to 24.9% of last twelve months' revenue (H1 2022: 23.1%). Whilst period end receivables reduced marginally year-on-year, reflecting continued strong recoverability, the increase in working capital was driven by a 41% uplift in inventory levels. This reflects the higher levels of US inventory held at period end to ensure we are well positioned to service the strong momentum in that market, whilst lapping inventory pinch points in the US market in June 2022. We expect inventory levels to recalibrate over the remainder of the year, which will drive improvements in working capital profile.

The increase in working capital, combined with the reduction in adjusted EBITDA generated in the first half of the year has temporarily resulted in negative cash generated from operations of £5.6m, -54% of adjusted EBITDA (H1 2022: £1.5m, +6% of adjusted EBITDA). An improving working capital profile, alongside an improving adjusted EBITDA margin will drive a return to positive operating cash flow conversion in the second half of the year.

Cash and Dividend

The Group's cash position reduced in the first half of the year as a result of the retraction in operating cash flow conversion, alongside the payment of the 2022 final dividend. The Group continues to retain a strong cash position of £75.8m and this allows us to continue to focus on making the correct strategic choices for the long-term health of the Fever-Tree brand and success of the business.  

As a reflection of our continued confidence in the financial strength of the Group the Directors are pleased to declare an interim dividend of 5.74 pence per share, 2% ahead of the 2022 interim dividend. The dividend will be paid on 20 October 2023, to shareholders on the register on 29 September 2023.