This morning, ASX-listed Lark Distilling Co entered into a share trading halt ahead of this $22.5 million capital raising.
Following this, Lark also published its sales results for the final quarter of Financial Year 2024. Revenue was $3.3 million for the quarter and $14 million for the Financial Year, down $0.7 million and $3.1 million on pcp and FY23. Lark says this decrease was anticipated by the company and is the result of the slowdowns in the Chinese Indirect Export Channel and in domestic B2B and hospitality sales.
“The fourth quarter was an important quarter for Lark, we achieved a number of important milestones for both our domestic and export businesses,” said CEO Sash Sharma.
“Operationally our Q4 sales of $3.3 million were in-line with our market update from 12 June 2024. Our direct export sales for Q4 and H2, were $0.3 million and $0.9 million respectively, with H2 sales offsetting more than half the shortfall in Chinese Indirect Export Channel of $1.6 million from H2FY23.”
Last month, Lark announced that Spirits Platform would become the new domestic distributor partner for both Lark whisky and Forty Spotted Gin. This new partnership will commence from this Thursday 1 August.
“Domestically, transition work is progressing well in advance of the exciting ‘go-live’ on 1 August with our new domestic distribution partner, Spirits Platform,” said Sharma.
“The Spirits Platform team are working closely, and very well with our existing Lark team to ensure a smooth handover.”
The Financial Year results also reveal a strong e-commerce performance, especially in relation to its exclusive Single Cask Program and Dark Lark. Lark’s Core single malt collection experienced 11% net sales growth in domestic channels over the year in spite of soft trading conditions. Additionally, Lark continued to invest in direct export sales to new Asian markets such as Malaysia and Philippines.
Sharma said, “for our direct export business, stock has now cleared customs in all four markets, with a planned reorder from Indonesia shipped in Q1FY25. We have launch events planned for Singapore and Indonesia in Q1FY25, where the focus is to build awareness both with trade and direct consumers as well as increase distribution.
“The performance of our nascent Global Travel Retail business was another highlight for FY24, achieving sales of $1.1 million.”
Currently, Lark Distilling Co has a Whisky Bank of 2.5 million litres, providing flexibility to support future growth. Lark has also hired a new creative agency experienced in the luxury alcohol space. Sharma says this “will support our global expansion ambitions, positioning Tasmania as the epicentre of new world whisky, with Lark as the differentiated leader.”
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