The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) continues to deliver on its strategy to take advantage of the sizable and fast growing global premium whisky market. Interim results released today reconfirmed robust growth in both revenue and membership in the first half of FY2022, and trading so far in the second half also appears strong. As a result, we maintain our confidence in close to 20% sales growth this financial year and reiterate our 150p fair value for the shares.
Membership numbers grew in all of ASC’s seven operating regions with the strongest increases being recorded in the UK (+31%), Europe (+33%) and Australia (+28%). Since half year end, membership increased further to 36,000 as growth in China resumed.
The notional retail value of ASC’s cask inventory, which we believe should be a focus in relation to the market capitalisation of the group, increased from £430m at end-December 2021 to £455m at this year’s interim stage. The retail value of this inventory should grow further as the company’s whisky stocks mature. Moreover, the ongoing purchase of whisky by ASC at earlier stages of the maturation process augurs positively for future gross margins.
