Stock Spirits Group PLC’s (LON:STCK) shares rebounded after the alcohol distiller revealed plans to expand distillation capacity in Poland after profits rose due to strong vodka sales.
Profit before tax rose by 25% to €38.3mln in the year to the end of September, said the spirits and liqueurs seller in its full-year results on Wednesday.
READ: Stock Spirits hikes final dividend as premium brands and digital investment drive profit growth
The Central and Eastern Europe-focused company, which traces its roots back to Triest-based distiller Camis & Stock in the 1880s and Polmos Lublin in Poland in the early 1900s, saw €308mln of underlying revenues pour in, up 9% excluding acquisitions.
More than half of sales were contributed by bumper vodka sales of €171mln in Poland, Europe’s biggest market for the spirit, which shot up 63% compared to the nine-month period in 2018.
Buoyed by strong demand, Stock Spirits said it has planned to spend €25mln on building additional distillation capacity in Poland, to be completed in three years' time, which will cut costs and improve margins.
It added that this year’s acquisition of Bartida, a high-end spirits business in the Czech Republic, helped it consolidate market share in the country, where sales rose 10%.
The full-year dividend was boosted 5.1% to 8.94 euro cents per share, as it announced a final dividend of 6.31.
Shares gained 3%, up to 193.8p in early trading on Wednesday.