Distil Regulatory News (DIS)

15 September 2014

Distil Plc

Trading Update

Distil (AIM: DIS), owner of premium drinks brands Blavod Black Vodka, Blackwoods Gin and Vodka, RedLeg Spiced Rum, Jago's Cream Liqueur and Diva provides the following trading update:

At the annual general meeting in July this year, we announced that we had agreed terms with two US distributors for Blavod Vodka, Blackwoods Gin and Blackwoods Vodka, subject to approval from the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). At that time, we expected this approval to be granted by August 2014 having submitted our requests in December and March. Regrettably, we have no control over the speed of this application process and to date have not received approval, nor a clear indication of when it may be forthcoming. We do not foresee any refusal however we were planning to have these permissions in time to have shipments in market and distribution established prior to the peak trading period. As a result of the delay, it is now clear that the Company will not meet its projected levels of sales for this year, and consequently we have been unable to achieve the monthly break-even position anticipated by now. We therefore anticipate that, notwithstanding we are only nearly half way through the financial year, the full year results will be significantly below current market expectations.

We will report further once the expected approvals are granted.

We are pleased to report however, that RedLeg natural flavouring has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that the necessary approvals for it to be sold in the US are now being sought from the TTB.

Outside of the US, where the majority of our trading takes place, sales volumes have continued to grow, Blackwoods Gin by 22% year to year and RedLeg Rum by 48%, and Blackwoods Vodka newly launched.

Jago's, our premium vodka based Vanilla Cream Liqueur, has been redesigned and is being re-launched. The new pack and improved liquid have been well received. As we build its distribution base we are marketing directly to our target market through sampling and consumer events.

Plans for the launch of Diva, our super premium wheat based vodka which contains a wand of Swarovski elements are well advanced and we expect sales will start in the next quarter.

We remain entirely focused on building our brands and broadening our distribution base which is critical in this market and have recently appointed distributors for RedLeg in Russia and Canada and for Blackwoods in Portugal Germany, France and Italy as per our planned expansion. 

The interims results for the half year to 30 September are scheduled for release in early November.

For further Information:

About Distil

Distil Plc (formerly Blavod Wines & Spirits) is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. It owns drinks brands in a number of sectors of the alcoholic drinks market. These include premium Vodka, premium Gin, Vodka Vanilla Cream Liqueur and Spiced Rum and are called Blavod Original Black Vodka, Blackwoods Vintage Gin, Blackwoods Vodka, Diva Vodka, Jago's Cream liqueur and RedLeg Spiced Rum.

www.distilplc.com