SSG collected three Silver awards and a Bronze in the prestigious competition. Key Rum Cream received a Silver Best in Class award with the judges noting the liqueur’s “Rich heady aromas of chicory coffee essence and dark chocolate. Sumptuous bittersweet layering on the tongue coupled with warm rum flavours partner in a really sensational mix. Excellent balance of bitter and sweet nuances on a superb rum base.” 

Keglevich Fragola also picked up a Silver Best in Class award with the judges commenting “Ripe red strawberry colour. Intense lifted sweet ripe strawberry nose. Lovely balance of sweetness, flavour and spirit in the mouth. The palate is light and very fresh with a long excellent finish.” 

Bozkov Peprmint, a liqueur which retails in the Czech Republic also collected Silver, while Italian vodka Keglevich received a Bronze. 

IWSC was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Liquids are put through a rigorous two-stage judging process of professional blind tasting and detailed technical (chemical and microbiological) analysis before being classified. 

Commenting on the wins, Chris Heath, CEO of Stock Spirits Group, said: “The fact that a wide cross-section of our brands have collected industry awards in blind tasting competitions in 2010 is hugely encouraging as we strive to offer our consumers high quality liquids. These latest wins, encompassing both the liqueurs and vodka categories, are particularly pleasing as we continue to pursue this strategy.”

Czysta de Luxe shot to prominence in 2009 as the fastest growing vodka brand globally after a record breaking year which saw the Polish vodka record 188% growth as 5.39 million 9 litre cases were sold. SSG also obtained second spot in the rankings as 1906 vodka burst into the Millionaires Club rankings for the first time, achieving sales of 1.39 million 9 litre cases with 67.5% growth from 2008 to 2009.

1906, a clear vodka which is produced through a process of quadruple distillation, was created to honour the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the original spirit production plant in Lublin – Rektyfikacja Lubelska. Since launch in 2006, 1906 has gone from strength to strength, commanding 6%** clear vodka market share in Poland while also being SSG’s third best selling vodka behind Czysta de Luxe and their market leading flavoured vodka Zoladkowa Gorzka. 

Czysta de Luxe is the market leading clear vodka in Poland with 19%** market share and has surged into the global list of Top 20 selling vodkas. It has already taken 8th place in this global list and is the youngest vodka in the top 10.

Commenting on the results, Chris Heath, Chief Executive Officer of Stock Spirits Group, said: “We knew that Czysta de Luxe had enjoyed an excellent 2009 but these results confirm the exceptional success of this brand when compared to the performance of its peers and against a backdrop of tough trading conditions in 2009. It is also very encouraging to see 1906 vodka entering the Millionaires Club for the first time and becoming the second fastest vodka brand globally. These results justify our strategy of investing in new and exciting brands in Central and Eastern Europe.”

* Millionaires 2010 http://www.drinksint.com/cp/8/DI_Millionaires_Supplement_2010.pdf

Stock Spirits Group (‘SSG’ or ‘the Group’), Central Europe’s leading producer of branded spirits, is pleased to announce its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2009.

Financial highlights 2009:

• Revenue up 17% to €262.0m  (2008: €224.0m)*
• EBITDA up 46% to €62.9m (2008: €43.2m)*
• EBITDA margin improved from 19.3% to 24%*
• Invested over €40m in brands and production facilities
• Cash flow remained strong

* At constant 2009 exchange rates

Operational highlights 2009:

• Polish vodka Czysta de Luxe sold 5.4m 9 litre cases to become the fastest growing vodka brand in the world in 2009**
• SSG now has a Number 1 position in three of its core markets
• Poland: now the clear market leader in vodka with over 30% market share
• Czech Republic: maintained position as market leader with 36% of spirits market
• Slovakia: market leading importer of spirits
• Owned sales & distribution operations were established in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia
• International division fully established with core brands now distributed in over 40 markets worldwide
• Many new products successfully launched in 2009 to drive future growth

** Source: Drinks International 2009 market data

Post period end:

• New Group CFO appointed
• Stock XO Brandy and Stock Prestige vodka launched in international markets
• Overall company and brand growth continues in line with management expectations

Regional performance overview:

Strong performances in Poland and the Czech Republic were the major contributors to Stock Spirits Group growth in 2009.

In Poland, Czysta de Luxe, launched by SSG in November 2007, sold 5.4m cases in 2009 (2.1m cases in 2008) – making it the No.1 clear vodka*** and the fastest growing vodka brand in the world in 2009. The Group also owns the No.1 flavoured vodka in Poland with its flagship brand, Wódka Żołądkowa Gorzka (WZG).

To complement the existing strong vodka portfolio, Stock Polska also successfully launched Stock Prestige in the premium clear vodka segment towards the end of 2009. This brand is currently performing extremely well and is significantly outselling the initial sales forecasts.

To cope with the rapid growth of the Polish vodka portfolio, Stock Spirits Group has invested significant capital in the Group’s production facilities in Lublin in the last two years and the Lublin factory is now the biggest bottling site in Europe with a capacity of 480m bottles per year. Overall production volumes doubled in 2009 to 97m litres.

In the Czech Republic, Stock Plzeň-Božkov maintained its leading market position with a 36%**** share of the spirits market,  selling a record 28m litres of spirits in 2009 following a record year of 27m litres in 2008. This was partially helped by strong trade purchases ahead of 2010 duty increases. Key brands include the leading Fernet brands, Fernet Stock and Fernet Stock Citrus, as well as the Božkov range of products.

Stock Italy successfully re-launched Limoncè, the Limoncello market leader, and Keglevich vodka consolidated its No.1 position in the growing flavoured vodka category.

The International division continued to establish a strong base for future growth, whilst Stock USA further developed its relationship with its appointed distributor, Gemini Spirits & Wine Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sazerac Company.

*** Source: Nielsen market share data

****Source: Nielsen Retail and Dataservis On-trade data

 Chris Heath, CEO of Stock Spirits Group, commented:

“We are delighted to have achieved a record year of profit growth, especially against the challenging global economic backdrop.  This clearly reflects our strength as one of Central Europe’s most successful producers and marketers of branded spirits.

In 2009 we attained market leadership position in vodka in our key market of Poland, building from successful brand launches in 2007 and 2008.  We are particularly pleased with creating in Czysta de Luxe the fastest growing vodka brand in the world in 2009**.

As we pursue our goal to consolidate our position as Central Europe’s leading producer of branded spirits, we will continue to invest in existing brands, people and production assets and we will continue to seek opportunities to expand into new markets across the region where we believe there are significant growth opportunities.

We would like to thank Oaktree Capital Management for being a supportive shareholder. With their help, we have been able to invest over €75m in our brands and production facilities in the last two years and as result have established what we believe to be a very strong platform for future growth.

In 2010 we continue to perform in line with management expectations and I am confident that prospects for the full year will build upon the strong growth achieved in the last two years.”

** Source: Drinks International 2009 market data

SSG has received nine awards* at this year’s International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) awards in Brussels. The recognition saw another strong showing from SSG’s Italian business, Stock S.r.l., with 3*** awards for Stock Sambuca, Gran Gala and Gala Caffe, while Czech based Stock Plzen-Bozkov s.r.o. brands Amundsen Cherry and Key Rum Cream were also awarded the top 3*** accolade.

Regarded as the leading independent Chef and Sommelier-based organisation dedicated to judging, honouring and promoting superior tasting food and drink from around the world, the iTQi Superior Taste Awards deliver an internationally recognised expert assessment. The iTQi judging is conducted on a strictly “blind” basis, thus eliminating any influence of packaging or product identification -- resulting in a truly independent and pure assessment based on the following five criteria: visual aspect, aroma, taste, texture and overall evaluation.

Meanwhile in New York, Orzel vodka followed up its Chairman’s Trophy for best vodka in March’s Ultimate Spirits Challenge with another Chairman’s Trophy, this time in the Ultimate Cocktail Challenge where the award was for best Martini vodka. Orzel, a Polish vodka produced by Stock Polska Sp. z o.o., collected the top prize after receiving what judges described as an “extraordinary” score of 96/100.

Finally, at the annual International Spirits Challenge 2010 awards SSG received a further five awards**. Gran Gala was awarded a silver medal, Limonce and Fernet Stock Citrus both received bronze awards while Key Rum Cream and Stock Prestige received commended medals. Celebrating its 15th year, the International Sprits Challenge focuses on the tasting and promotion of outstanding quality spirits from around the world. Spirits are tasted and rigorously judged by the industry's leading international spirits experts.

Commenting on the awards, Chris Heath, Chief Executive Officer of Stock Spirits Group said:

“It is once again pleasing to see the strength of our brands across our three key markets of Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic. The fact that our brands continue to excel at blind tasting competitions is very reassuring and confirms our ethos of delivering the very best quality liquids to our consumers at a competitive price.”  

*Full Details of SSG awards at International Taste & Quality Institute:
 

**Full Details of SSG awards at International Spirits Challenge 2010: