Lark Distilling Co posted higher net sales in the first half, thanks to better direct-to-consumer sales along with reorders from Asia.
The company’s net sales grew 7 per cent to $7.9 million, which included $500,000 worth of reorders from Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, and a $600,000 increase in direct-to-consumer sales.
Lark also noted its travel retail presence continued to grow in key Australian airports, with Adelaide added during the second quarter.
However, domestic business-to-business sales fell by $400,000 due to the recent transition to Spirits Platform as its new distribution partner and the impact of the industrial action at Endeavour Group’s distribution centres.
Group revenue fell 5.5 per cent to $8.5 million with an attributable net loss of $2.4 million.
“The recent transition to Spirits Platform as our domestic distribution partner is progressing well, albeit set against the backdrop of challenging trading conditions,” said Sash Sharma, Lark CEO.
“We are working collaboratively with Spirits Platform, utilising their portfolio strength and commercial reach to drive Lark’s brand equity and grow sales over time, in our current and future range.”
In the fourth quarter, the company expects to launch Kurio, a blended malt whisky from the House of Lark, through Endeavour Group and independent channels, with national ranging in Dan Murphy’s and Tasmanian BWS stores confirmed.
Lark said work on increasing the distilling capacity of its Pontville site to around half a million litres is progressing.
