Ghost Ship producer Adnams slashes losses
Ghost Ship producer Adnams has halved its operating loss amid a commercial turnaround plan, although retail sales continue to suffer.
The Suffolk-based company, which makes cask ale, bottled beers and spirits, said that sales increased three per cent to £68.1m in the 12 months ended December 31.
Its operating loss shrank by more than half, from £2.5m in 2023 to £1.1m in 2024, while its pre-tax loss also shrank from £4m in 2023 to £2.7m in 2024.
Revenue in all parts of the business grew on a like-for-like basis, with the exception of retail trading, where Adnams said conditions “remained challenging”.
Adnams has implemented a commercial turnaround plan to improve revenue growth and profitability, with 2024 performance illustrating the “early stages” of its plan.
“The contribution from our shops was disappointing… necessitating both a root-and-branch review of product and service costs across all channels and product lines,” interim chair Simon Wood said.
Adnams outperforms the market
Cask ale volumes had declined by 5.3 per cent against a market decline of 7.6 per cent, the company said.
Off-trade ale volumes suffered a small decline of 0.3 per cent year on year, ahead of the wider industry decline of 6.3 per cent.
On-trade ale volumes fell 5.8 per cent, worse than the wider market fall of 3.7% per cent, although performance “improved during the course of the year”, Adnams said.
Wood said that the firm has undergone “significant change” in 2024 and that the board expects “the benefits… to flow through into our financial performance in 2025 and beyond.”
“The market in which we are operating continues to be immensely challenging, and our business is having to become unashamedly commercial if we expect to be able to compete effectively, grow our share and improve our underlying performance,” Wood said.
The company saw multiple board changes during 2024, notably with Simon Townsend appointed as interim chair and Jenny Hanlon appointed as CEO.