9 October 2018

STOCK SPIRITS GROUP PLC

 Pre-Close Trading Update

Stock Spirits Group PLC ("the Company"), a leading owner and producer of premium branded spirits and liqueurs that are principally sold in Central and Eastern Europe, today provides a pre-close trading update for the 9 month period ended 30 September 2018.  As previously communicated, this is further to adopting 30 September as the new accounting year-end date.

Overall trading since the half-year results announced in August, and therefore for the 9 months ended 30 September 2018, was in line with our expectations.

Together, the markets of Poland and the Czech Republic deliver approximately three-quarters of our revenue.  These markets continued to show growth in spirits, in both volume and value terms (source: Nielsen YTD August 2018).  

Our Polish business has continued to perform well, growing both volume and value share, despite trading conditions remaining highly competitive.  We are also pleased with the recent performance of our Czech business, which is successfully navigating the challenges it experienced in the first half of this calendar year.

Group cash flow for the period was strong, resulting in net debt at 30 September 2018 of circa €32m (31 December 2017: €53m).

We will announce our results for the 9 months ended 30 September 2018 on Wednesday 5 December 2018, when we will provide a more detailed update on trading and performance during that period, across our key markets.  At the same time, we will report pro forma and unaudited 12 months results to 30 September 2018, with comparative pro forma unaudited results for the 12 months to 30 September 2017.

ENDS

For further information

A copy of this announcement has been posted on www.stockspirits.com. Investors can also address any query to investorqueries@stockspirits.com

About Stock Spirits Group

Stock Spirits is one of Central and Eastern Europe's leading branded spirits and liqueurs businesses, and offers a portfolio of products that are rooted in local and regional heritage. With core operations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Stock also exports to more than 40 other countries worldwide. Global sales volumes currently total over 100 million litres per year.

Stock has state of the art production facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, and its core brands include products made to long-established recipes such as Stock 84 brandy, Fernet Stock bitters and Limonce, as well as more recent creations like Stock Prestige and Zoladkowa de Luxe vodkas.

Stock is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. For the year ended 31 December 2017 it delivered total revenue of €274.6m and operating profit of €29.9m.

For further information, please visit www.stockspirits.com