SCOTCH whisky distiller Edrington has put Cutty Sark and Glenturret up for sale, as it focuses on brands including The Macallan and Highland Park.
Glasgow-based Edrington revealed it had appointed investment bank Nomura to handle the sale of Glenturret in Perthshire and Cutty Sark, as the distiller unveiled a three per cent rise in annual pre-tax profits to £194.7 million. A spokesman for Edrington said currency fluctuations had “hampered” the company in terms of the pre-tax profit movement in the year to March 31, 2018.
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Edrington said that its “core” revenue – sales of branded products adjusted for the impact of foreign currency movements – had climbed by 7% to £706.7m in the year to March.
It highlighted a 15% rise in sales of its Highland Park single malt.
The spokesman said: “It was an exceptional year for Highland Park and I’m not aware of any markets that went backwards. UK, Nordics, and USA are the leading markets, and we can now see some traction taking place in a wide range of Asia-Pacific markets.”
Edrington flagged its ongoing £500m investment in The Macallan brand, which includes a new distillery opened recently.
The company, which is owned by The Robertson Trust, declared: “Opened in June, the new distillery will enhance The Macallan’s status as the leading international single malt by value.”
The Macallan delivered 7% growth in “contribution”, which is revenue minus advertising and promotion spending.
Edrington said the brand had strengthened its “leading position in some of the world’s most significant Scotch whisky markets including the USA, Taiwan, and Japan”.
The company spokesman said Edrington had “spent the last few days communicating with employees” about the planned sale of the Cutty Sark blend and Glenturret.
Chief executive Ian Curle said the sale proposals would enable greater focus and investment to support the long-term growth of the company’s premium portfolio, including The Macallan, The Famous Grouse, Highland Park, The Glenrothes, and Brugal rum.
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He added: “Premium spirits is the fastest-growing area of the spirits market. Focusing our resources and investment on the brands best equipped to compete powerfully will help Edrington to capitalise on the long-term prospects from premium spirits.”
When its joint venture interests are taken into account, Edrington’s global workforce is around 3,000. This includes about 900 employees based in Scotland, including around 600 at Edrington’s bottling plant at Great Western Road in Glasgow.
Edrington said the sale process, which has just begun, was “not expected to involve any redundancies, with an anticipation that all 31 employees at The Glenturret in Crieff, Perthshire will transfer to a new owner”. It said it was consulting with these employees.
The company provided assurances over jobs at its Glasgow bottling plant.
Cutty Sark is blended and bottled at Great Western Road, accounting for around 10% of output at this site by volume.
Graham Hutcheon, group operations managing director, said the impact of the Cutty Sark sale on Great Western Road could be “managed over time”.
He added: “Our intention is to offer blending and bottling facilities to a new owner. If that should not prove appropriate, we do not anticipate any compulsory redundancies and would endeavour to redirect our people to the dynamic premium developments at Great Western Road.”
Asked if Cutty Sark and Glenturret would be sold together or separately, the Edrington spokesman replied: “They are positioned as separate sales but if a buyer wants to buy both then that would be considered.”
The spokesman, asked if Edrington had any price in mind for the brands, replied: “For the moment we are interested in how the marketplace responds, and we will evaluate any bids we receive.”
Asked about Brexit, the Edrington spokesman replied: “We are as well prepared as we possibly can be, but like every other company in the UK we are looking for some certainty about the future trading relationship with the EU.”
The Robertson Trust has donated more than £230m to charitable causes since 1961.
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