Fever-Tree toasts forecast-beating revenues, shares rise

Drinks company Fever-Tree said full-year revenues would come in ahead of expectations following a "resilient" performance in 2020.

Updating on trading, the mixers specialist said revenues for the year to 31 December were likely to be £252.1m, a 3% decline on the previous year but ahead of earlier guidance for between £235m and £243m. It is also ahead of consensus.

UK revenues were off 22% to £103.3m, but ahead 23% in the US, at £58.5m. In Europe, sales were up 1% to £56.3m.

On-trade sales - which were dented by the impact of lockdown restrictions on pubs and restaurant - fell around 60% year-on-year. Off-trade sales jumped 57%, however.

The AIM-listed firm said: "Fever-Tree delivered a resilient performance in 2020, underpinned by strong sales and strategic progress in the off-trade and e-commerce channels across our regions, which helped mitigate the impact of widespread closures of the on-trade during the year.

"Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic, the group delivered a strong second-half performance across our key markets and is expected to deliver revenue for the full-year of around £252m, which is ahead of the guidance provided at our interim results in September."

Looking ahead to the current year, chief executive Tim Warrillow said: "I am of course mindful that uncertainty remains, especially in terms of the timing of reopening of the on-trade across many markets, but our performance over the last year, combined with our track record against the competition and the supportive global trends gives us confidence in the future growth potential."

Anubhav Malhotra, analyst at Liberum, said: "This is a strong result by Fever-Tree in a tough year, and reflects the strength of the brand. The increased consumer trial and awareness in the US should bode well for the future, and the beginning of local production in the US in December 2020 should provide gross margin tailwinds going forward."

As at 0945 GMT, shares in Fever-Tree were ahead just under 3% at 2,363.7p.