TULLIBARDINE, the French-owned Perthshire distillery and shop, has toasted a major rise in pre-tax profits as it continues to see opportunities for Scotch whisky around the world.
The distillery business, based in the Eaglesgate Retail Village near Blackford, recorded earnings before tax of £1.03 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, accounts newly available at Companies House show.
The firm, which makes the Tullibardine Highland malt and runs distillery tours, booked pre-tax profits of £65,254 for the seven months ended December 31, 2011. That profit followed earnings of £495,841 for the 12 months to May 31, 2011.
The difference in accounting periods shown in the latest results reflects the switch by the company, which was acquired by Bourgognes & Domaines Michel Picard SA in 2011, to a calendar financial year.
The accounts show the distiller enjoyed a major underlying spike in turnover to £15.2m, up from £5.65m for the seven months to the end of 2011, which the directors said had been "largely due to increased lower-margin sales".
This increase in lower-margin business was also highlighted when Tullibardine reported its last set of results in September last year.
An analysis of turnover by geographical market reveals an underlying increase in sales in the UK, rising to £11.5m in 2012, compared with £4.4m in the seven months to the end of 2011.
There was also a leap in sales to Europe last year, with turnover hitting £3.2m versus £581,847. Writing in the accounts, the directors noted the positive outlook for Scotch whisky.
The directors said: "The worldwide market for malt whisky continues to thrive, which presents many opportunities for the company.
"The intention is to have the distillery working at full capacity for the coming year. Managing the cost of raw materials, particularly oil and malted barley, remains critical to the success of the business and systems are in place to ensure that this is closely monitored."
Tullibardine employed an average of 30 staff during its last financial year, down from 33 in the second half of 2011. Twelve were employed in distillery roles, with 13 in its retail business. That compared with 11 distillery roles and 15 in retail at the time of the last accounts.
Overall staff costs were £703,638 for the year. They were £525,215 in the seven months to the end of December 2011. The directors added that they "continue to be impressed by the commitment and dedication of our excellent staff".
They said: "The company's success is greatly dependent on its people and team development continues to be an important part of our ongoing strategy."
The Tullibardine distillery is based on the site of a brewery where, according to its website, King James IV bought beer in 1488 following his coronation at Scone Palace. It was converted into a distillery after its purchase by William Delme Evans in 1947, but eventually mothballed by Whyte & Mackay in 1994, along with other distilleries, as the company dealt with over-capacity. Tullibardine was revived by a consortium of five businessmen in 2003.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article