2023 was a record year for them, batting in €1.548 billion in sales, demonstrating literally a 50% increase in just two years. 2021 was €1.010 billion in turnover. Gross profits were in 2023 were €429 million, not far off double the €236 million in 2021. Profit margins sat at 27.7% (up from 23.4% in 2021) and the net profit was €293 million, up from €144.5 million back in 2021.

Remy Cointreau Share Price Chart

The numbers on the annual reports for the last three years seem to be going in the opposite direction to the share price. Hence our question, WTF is going on at Remy Cointreau?

Friday 28th June 2024, Remy Cointreau shares were trading at a 52 week low on the US markets, dropping as log as $8.15 a share,

On a 3 year chart, the stock is down 56.46%. But it’s worse than that. Taking a chart back to September 1988, when Remy Cointreau first listed, and we’re talking about a stock trading 70.56% lower than it did 36 yeas ago. It completely defies logic.

Analyst ratings on the stock are all on the downside. UBS reduced their target price on June 7th 2024, after lowering its rating on Remy Cointreau as recently as April. JP Morgan rates RemY Cointreau as a SELL, reiterating that sell rating on June 6th 2024. Barclays lowered their target price on 10th April 2024, and the only big name to rate it as a buy is Deutsche Bank.

So what’s going wrong?

Firstly, it’s the perceived over dependency on Cognac, which, in the 2023 annual report was responsible for 71% of the sales of the entire company. That’s 71% across just two products, Remy Martin and Louis XIII – with no doubt the lions share of that being on Remy Cointreau.

Add in the complexity of 50% of revenue being “The Americas” (read “the USA”) which is very much dominated by Hennessy, and the dominos start to stack up. Hennessy have a 60% market share in the USA, putting out over 4 million cases of product into the land of stars and stripes. In the on-trade, Hennessy takes up 85% of cognac sales in Union Venues and it’s probably fair to say that this is a general trend across the US. Remy Martin ranks third, with 4 brands taking up the remaining 15% of cognac sales in Union venues.

Next we have the 33% dependency on “Asia-Pacific” – which doesn’t take a genius to realise that this mostly means China. Sure, there are markets in Taiwan and Singapore and a few other key cities, but we all know, China is the future for most alcohol producers.

China is worlds largest consumer market, 1.3 billion people. It’s music to the ears of shareholders. Even when you strip off the 50% of people that don’t drink alcohol, plus the women, the children and the old folk – you still have one of the largest markets for alcohol in the world.

But when you factor in the possible anti-dumping case against French Brandy (of which cognac falls under) and a pretty limp effort at developing the market by the in country team in China, there’s no sunshine and moon beams for Remy Cointreau in the PRC. (We’ll no doubt do an article on Remy Cointreau’s disasterous adventures in China in the near future – watch out for it, it will be a great read!)

There’s also the massive debt mountain they have stacked up over the last few years. They have been lashing out bounds like fun coupons, all of which are tradable for equity in the company – which either leads to non-trivial interest payments (which eats into profits and dividends) or share dilution. Either scenario isn’t nice for a long term investor.

What Can Save Them Now

Diversification! As everyone knows, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket – and currently Remy Cointreau has got pretty much all of it in just two. Cognac and the US of A. They need to develop other markets, faster (China for sure, but not with the current team) and other products, either by in house development or by acquisition.

More whisky – an American distillery or a new world distillery would be a really smart move right now. Hanging everything on Bruichladdich is too big a gamble. Although, a journey “Back to the Future” with an investment in Waterford, led by Mark Reynier – one of the people that built up Bruichladdich to sufficient scale for Remy Cointreau to buy them out back in 2012.

Alternatively, a big bumper boost in growth by a merger or acquisition of another stable of brands. Campari would be too big (in fact, rumors are that Campari have been sniffing out a way to just swallow Remy Cointreau whole) but something like Camus could be a useful and strategic decision. Despite Camus being a tiddler, they have an amazing footprint in the China market, and put Remy Cointreau to shame. Putting Cyril Camus in the big seat to lead China, on a merged Remy Cointreau Camus would be the smartest move at the least cost.

No thanks needed Eric – you’re welcome to our free advice.

For more news about Remy Cointreau CLICK HERE.

The post Remy Cointreau – WTF Is Going On? appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

Pitched to the whisky loving global community as a £6.5 million project (although the maths seems a bit questionable, as even on their last published accounts there’s nothing like £6.5 million on the books in assets) the project seems to have had a few bumps in the road to get to production.

November 2011 they were weeks away from being struck off the register, and there were some brotherly handbags in September 2023, when Angus gave his brother the boot as a director, all nicely packaged up as “buying him out”.

3 chunky financial charges made against the company on 5th April 2024, and we can skip forward to June and they actually have a working distillery.

But it’s all good right? Angus is a jock, so he’ll fit in with the clicky clicky circle jerk that is the Scotch Whisky industry. He’ll get a few invites to some dinners and no doubt win some stickers for whatever he start bottling in a few years.

Or will he?

We’re keen to got a gob full of whatever this mysterious 130 year old recipe will produce at Benbecula Distillery. Our guess is……mashing grains, fermenting them with yeast, distilling it, and then maturing it in barrels will probably result in “whisky”. Unless we’re missing something about the relevance at this lame attempt at a bit of marketing spin, and it really is something unique going into the mix.

Our money is on crabs. As a former prime crabbing location, a bit of a fishy taste with some crunchy shell would really make this distinctive in an over saturated Scotch market. Taking the whole “maritime flavor” to the next level of geeeenius.

But then of course, it wouldn’t be whisky would it?

Doh.

The post Benbecula Distillery Is Cranking Out Spirit! appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

Just remember who broke the story that Bladnoch Slashes Production By 75% Thursday 27th June 2024, before anyone else steals it!

It’s been 9 years since Bladnoch was taken over by Australian entrepreneur, David Prior, after it was liquidated in 2014. Prior teamed up with Gavin Hewitt to form the new Bladnoch Distillery Limited on 9th December 2014.

It was originally called Pure Scott Limited, originally intended to be the vehicle to create the Pure Scott blended whisky for the Australian market, owned by the Australian parent company, Pure Scott Pty Limited, (registered in February 2014, ACN number 168 059 130). Hewitt came on board as a director on 25th June 2015, although later resigned on 14th September 2017 – only to get back on board on 1st January 2024. No, we don’t know what that’s all about either.

A quick skim around Companies House in the UK, and a gander at their last published accounts (20th December 2023, TOTAL EXEMPTION FULL ACCOUNTS is the interesting one) reveals a few items of concern. To make it easier, we have it for DOWNLOAD HERE.

Page 2 highlights include almost £33 million in short term debt (debt that has to be repaid within one year), another £14 million due after 1 year. There’s £1.5 million in a bank loan at a horrifying 7.49%, a “directors loan” of £11.7 million, a £12.1 million ABL facility (which has actually been increased to £16.5 million) and another £12.6 million from PFF (Prior Family Foundation) which rakes in a nice 7.49% per year earner, PLUS forex provisions.

£47 million, assuming it’s all around the 7.49% mark, is £3.5 million a year down the drain before Team Bladnoch even gets out of bed.

Here’s where the problems are:

On page 10, they have £15.2 million in stocks (raw materials, work in progress and finished goods) and £6.6 million in debtors. The stocks likely have a gross profit of £3 million and the debtors likely have gross profit of £1.5 million. Factor in the circa 40 headcount even at a modest average salary of £20K per year per head, and that’s £800K, plus basic running costs of the facility – there’s just not enough money left over to even repay the interest on their debt mountain – let alone to invest in casks, grains, yeast, and production costs to fill barrels. Now it’s logical to understand why Bladnoch Slashes Production. They don’t have enough pennies to produce anything!

There’s a whiff in the air…….that whiff of smoke, that usually hides a few mirrors.

The post Bladnoch Slashes Production By 75%! appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

Yes, it’s another one of those nonsense Top 10 lists, and this time it claims to be “The world’s best-selling Cognac and brandy brands”.

They reveal the list in typical reverse order, counting down from 10. Their top 10 is apparently as follows:

1. Mansion House Brandy with 8.3 Million cases.

2. Hennessy – 7.9 million cases

3. Old Admiral – 3.7 million cases (dropping from 4.3 million in 2022）

4. Dreher – 2.7 million cases

5. Martell – 2.3 million cases

6. Silver Cup Brandy – 1.7 million cases

7. Courrier Napoleon Brandy – 1.6 million cases

8. Old Kenigsburg – 1.5 million cases

9. Morpheus Brandy – 1.3 million cases

10. Old McDowell’s Brandy – 1.2 million cases

So where are the clangers in that list?

First and foremost – where is Emperador? Generally accepted by EVERYONE to be the world’s biggest selling brandy since 2006, despite only being started as a brand in 2001. The annual sales on Emperador are far in excess of 20 million cases a year, and could be as high as 30 million.

Secondly, Dreher? Really? Is it brandy when it’s no secret about the fact it’s made from sugar cane and so should either be classed as a rum or a Cachaça.

Sloppy, amateur journalism – this time from Rupert Hohwieler.

The post More Sloppy Journalism from The Spirits Business – this time about Brandy appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

TSB (there used to be a bank with those initials, but that’s long since gone now), went out with a story on Uile-bheist brew pub with whisky stills (which we covered HERE):

The key points being £7.5 million cost and the first new facility in Inverness for 130 years. Ironically proving a link to a previous article, which runs with this:

Not the first time this has happened, and to be frank, it’s the only reason we actually bother to read their brand funded, biased nonsense. To look for the clangers.

Here are a few more:

Apart from the obvious typo on the numbers that proof reading was not bothered with, there’s the old “magic planet” that The Spirits Business lives on. Are you with us so far?

Lets make it a bit easier.

What planet is Melita Kiely living on? Undoubtedly one with a much thinner atmosphere that the planet we live on. Of course lower air pressure that would explain why her lips have expanded so much – of course we would never accuse her of using Perlane injections….

Have You Spotted Any Clangers?

The Spirits Business isn’t the only publisher of lazy journalism. Most of them are at it. Cranking out words for the same of it and then throwing them online. If you see any out there in the wild, throw them over to us and we’ll make them famous. Use our Fishy Leads Form HERE.

The post The Sprits Business’ Sloppy Dregs appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

WeChat, China’s instant messaging and then everything APP was on fire on the night of Thursday 2nd March with every distributor and wholesaler of whisky in China, sharing this official letter from the William Grant owned William Grant and Sons Liquor Trading, based in Shanghai.

We spoke with some of the key distributors for William Grant in China. Here’s what they had to say.

Another distributor was a little more enraged. SO much so that WeChat wouldn’t translate it, so we had to use Bing. Hence two screens.

Thanks to Bing, we would achieve this:

Logic would infer heads rolling at William Grant and Sons. Let’s revisit our Movers and Shakers in about a month to see where Jason Lucas ends up in April.

The post William Grant Goes Gouging appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

Obviously with our hooks into the global whisky industry, we know the truth, and we’ll share it right here and right now. But let’s start with the rumours.

Jack Daniels Whiskey Fungus

One narrative being that the discovery of whisky fungus (that affects the wood of the building and/or the wood of the casks used to mature the whiskey and/or the whiskey itself) is the reason that the construction of a rickhouse has been suspended while the fungus is investigated.

Whiskey Fungus Takes Over The Town

Possibly the biggest story is the tale that a unique whiskey fungus is taking over the entire town of Lynchburg – and is everywhere because it is being “fed” on the fumes from the angels share evaporating from the Jack Daniel’s rickhouses. Complaints from town residents have resulted in the new rickhouse construction being suspended by the local government.

Old Ladies Getting Drunk On Fumes

One of the stories going around is that construction has been suspended due to complaints from old ladies being drunk on the fumes from the angels share.

You Can’t Handle The Truth

It’s actually much more boring that any of these stories. Yes, there is a fungus issue being complained about in the local town and a few stories seem to think that this has something to do with alcohol. But the science doesn’t stack up to us. High strength alcohol tends to kill things as opposed to feed them. Which is why yeast (a fungus) eventually dies during fermentation. We aren’t scientists but there has never been any wild fungus conspiracy about Jack Daniel’s before 2023.

What there HAS been, is a seasonal fungus on trees (not specific to Tennessee, this happens all over the world) during spring, when everything is colder and wetter. The perfect petri dish for fungus. Sure, 2023 seems to be a bit more fungus around than the previous 10 or 20 years, but to connect that to Jack Daniel’s sounds a bit like disinformation.

The REAL reason is simple. Jack Daniel’s started to build a new rickhouse without getting the correct permits in place. Their excuse that the rickhouse would generate US$1 million a year in property tax, didn’t excuse the fact that most of the developed world has processes and procedures to follow before building anything bigger than a large garden shed, and pretty much all commercial property will need a formal application process before construction starts.

What do you think?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Update – The Spirits Business

UPDATE: 06th March 2023. Nice to see The Spirits Business has “been inspired” by our stories again. Only 4 days after us this time.

The post Whiskey Fungus, Fumes and Rickhouses – fun at Jack Daniels appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.

But, with rumours flying that I review whisky as a side gig, I finally got bored of all the Whatsapp messages asking me what my review on Proper 12 was.  So, I fasted for a day to save up enough money (I wasn’t even sure how much is a bottle of Proper 12!)  to justify buying this as “the days calorific intake” as I had no expectations of it being any more enjoyment than that – just boring, tasteless calories.  The slimy tofu of whiskey.

Clearly this was (much like the fighter himself) going to be a lot of noise and very little delivered.  Perhaps it’s the fact I find Mr McG an annoying little twerp that created at least some of the bias I had towards trying this whisky.  I find him a lot like those annoying little nippy dogs.  Great things to keep your granny company, but apart from that, the mostly just need a good boot.  The noise of them yelping at a good, hard, toe poke is a lot more appealing to me than having one as a pet.  Let’s hope he doesn’t have the misfortune to come down the streets that I loiter in.  He’d need a lot more than a suitcase trolley and a dozen man, arse kissing entourage to make him look impressive.

But enough of my bitching.  Let’s get onto the whiskey and try to be open minded about it.  I actually tried it three times.  I went all professional.  I did it neat.  I did it with water.  Then I did it with cola, as no doubt the mugs buying this would drink it.

Neat, it was somewhere between a watered down Jamesons and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red – if Johnnie Walker Red suddenly got anorexia and shrivelled down to a chopstick thin bottle of bottom shelf.  With water (as a 50:50 whiskey to water) it tasted like someone had put three pinches of some hipster breakfast muesli in a litre of vodka.  With cola.  Well it tasted pretty much like any vodka coke would taste.  Sweet, syrupy and a tiny little oomph from the alcohol content.

Industry Hypocrisy About Proper 12

Mr McG isn’t the first “celebrity” to brand a bottle of booze.  He also won’t be the last.  But what grates me is that someone claiming to be Irish, with all that national pride about all things Ireland and of course Irish Whiskey, would put out such junk.  At least all of the other celebrity brands (at least the ones I’ve tried) across all categories, have at least tried to offer something that has some sense of decency.

Where it creates even more cringe, is the amount of bullshit merchants in the trade press, have got behind this and blown trumpets of success and quality.  Reading the reviews of this on whisky retail sites, makes me want to go over there and slap them with a large fish, around the head, no less than thrice.  Sure, they are just whoring it out because they will make a couple of quid on every bottle sold – but so they could make the same by being honest and saying “it’s crap – buy a bottle of Jameson instead”.

As for the industry pro’s – pro’s they all are.  They have prostituted themselves to get behind this, rather than just tell the truth.  Shame on all of you.

Summary

If you’ve run out of vodka, and the local off license only has Proper 12, then maybe it will do.  But if you’re looking for Irish whiskey, you’ve come to the wrong place.

The post Proper 12 appeared first on Whisky Galaxy.