Mighty Craft’s results for the second quarter of FY24 show a mixed result, where Better Beer’s success mitigated losses in other sectors.
Better Beer grew ahead of market expectations, achieving 23 per cent quarter growth and 35 per cent growth in the 2023 calendar year. This growth was offset by declines in the premium spirits portfolio, where the 81,000 bottles sold represented a decline of 25 per cent on the prior corresponding period (PCP).
Overall Mighty Craft’s unaudited group revenue for the quarter was $29.5m, down five per cent on the PCP and the audited group EBITDA of $0.3m is down 70 per cent on the PCP.
Mighty Craft Managing Director, Katie McNamara, said that the growth of Better Beer is promising for Mighty Craft.
“Q2 trading performance was a mixed result – we continue to see Better Beer perform exceptionally well, while cost-of-living pressures continue to impact the premium end of the spirits category. Better Beer sales of 12.2m litres in its second calendar year post-launch is remarkable,” she said.
In the second quarter of FY24, Better Beer sold four million litres of beer, and increased its on-premise presence by 10 per cent, meaning it is now available in more than 1000 venues. The brand’s strongest sales performance was in December, with first and last weeks of the month achieving the highest case sales per week of 2023.
Across the broader Mighty Craft portfolio, commercial beer performed the best, with a 6.1 per cent increase in sales. Craft beer and cider also saw sales increases, but significantly smaller ones at 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
This growth was achieved amid the Mighty Craft divestment and restructuring program, which has put the Better Beer capital raise process on hold and reduced marketing expenditure. However, operating costs have also been reduced as part of the restructure.
Mighty Craft Chair Grant Peck is confident that the restructure process will result in a healthier business.
“The Mighty Craft business clearly needs to reduce debt levels and redefine the core business. This process is well underway and saw cash results of $5.5m in the quarter, with associated progress on the cost base,” he said.