South Korean appetite for single malt whisky keeps Scotch maker Artisanal Spirits on track

A growing appetite for single malt whisky in South Korea and Taiwan has helped British maker Artisanal Spirits Company go against the grain amid a slump in demand, according to its latest results.

The company, which is headquartered in Edinburgh, cut its pre-tax loss to £3.1m in the six months ending June 30, 2024, from £3.5m in the same period last year.

The whisky maker’s revenue remained flat at £10.1m which analysts have hailed as “commendable” given the “particularly tough” premium consumer market, especially in China.

Artisanal Spirits Company CEO Andrew Dane said the company had been able to counter this slump in demand among its Chinese customers by launching its subscription service in Taiwan and South Korea.

In a bid to create hype around the service the company limited the number of subscriptions available, splitting availability across two phases.

Dane said that in South Korea, the first set of subscriptions sold out in under an hour, and the second in less than 15 minutes, with strong demand for single malt whisky in the country driving strong interest in the company’s products.

Its total membership in Asia now sits at 5.5m people – up from 4.2m at this point in 2023. Membership in the American market also grew, hitting 8.5m from 7.5m in 2023.

In Europe, however, Dane said that the company’s strategic refocusing on spend per customer had brought membership numbers down from 25m in June 2023 to 24.4m in the six months ending June 30, 2024.

However, he added that the company had successfully increased the amount each customer was spending.

Artisanal Spirits Company toasts results

In a statement published along side Artisanal Spirits Company’s results, Dane said: “We have delivered a creditable performance and made good progress on our journey towards profitability despite challenging trading conditions prevailing in some markets.

“We continue to focus on attracting and retaining higher quality members, whilst maintaining a well-controlled cost base.

“Our proven strategy of investing in whisky stock has built an impressive inventory to satisfy our requirements well into the next decade, as well as delivering a significant uplift in value creation, with the current cask value of just over £100m.

“Correspondingly, the group now only needs to acquire stock on a replenishment basis thereby significantly improving the future cash profile of the business.

“Single Cask Nation has integrated well and is performing to expectation. Our revenue streams and the
geographies in which we operate are becoming increasingly diverse, further limiting our exposure to any given market.

“This together with the actions we’re taking now are building this unique business for the longer term to
the benefit of all shareholders.

“We enter H2 with a clear strategy, a focus on delivery of the key drivers of profitability in the year across cask sales and US shipments and remain confident of meeting FY24 EBITDA expectations.”