1 July 2008 - Premium beverage company, Charlie's Group Limited, today announced record unaudited sales for the year ended 30 June 2008, of $33 million, up $6 million or 24% compared to the previous year.
Chief Executive of Charlie’s Group, Stefan Lepionka, said: “Overall, it has been a very pleasing year for the Group, breaking through the $30 million dollar gross sales mark and continuing our unbroken record of annual sales growth.
“The non-alcoholic premium beverage market is growing strongly, and Charlie’s Group continues to lead this market in new product development and with a widening distribution network.
“Export markets, particularly Australia with 44% growth on last year, and Asia, continue to be a significant growth opportunity for Charlie’s Group.
“In addition to ongoing sales to South Korea, initial orders have been placed for Singapore through Dairy Farm Group, a leading Pan-Asian retailer, and from a distributor based in India. Asia presents a huge opportunity for Charlie’s Group and in 2009 we will be building further on our initial entry into these exciting export markets.
“The commissioning of the new Australian plant was a major investment initiative for Charlie’s Group and it has shown immediate profitability since production started in April 2008. The facility provides many benefits for Charlie’s including significant production cost savings, security of supply, a 50 percent reduction in lead time to market and accelerated new product development.
“Charlie’s new, innovative square bottle packaging was made possible by the new Australian plant, and has received very favourable responses from both local and international retailers since it was released in late June 08.
“The transition from production at Charlie’s third party contract packers to our own Australian facility led to some temporary out of stocks from our contract packers and product issues which have now been resolved. These occurred during a record summer sales season that would have been maximised further if the stock was available and are the reason that the Charlie’s Group expected year end result will be lower than previously forecast.
“As a result, Charlie’s Group will produce a positive EBITDA result for FY08, but will not exceed last year’s EBITDA result as previously hoped, and a small loss after tax is now expected.”
Charlie’s chairman, Ted van Arkel, commented on the Group’s future outlook: “We are now focused on balancing our ongoing Investment for Growth strategy with generating positive returns for our investors, as the benefits from investment initiatives put in place during 2008 start to flow through to the bottom line.”
Charlie’s has shown strong profitability in the last quarter of the year as a direct result of moving production to the Australian plant. This has resulted in a large turnaround from the half year EBITDA loss of ($377,000) and a positive EBITDA is expected for the full year.
Charlie’s Group will release its audited results for the 2008 financial year ended 30 June 2008 in late August 2008.
SUMMARY
Sales highlights for the year to 30 June 2008
• Year on year, gross sales up 24% or $6 million to $33 million
• Successful commissioning of the Australian production and packaging plant in April 2008
• Initial export orders for India and Singapore and ongoing growth in sales to South Korea
• Launch of innovative square bottle packaging for the Charlie’s range of products
• Growth of 44% in Australian market
• Increased fridge space and listings in premium outlets throughout New Zealand and Australia
• Positive growth trend expected to continue into 2009.