Tonic water maker Fever-Tree Drinks said today it expects full-year results to be "comfortably ahead" of its expectations, on the back of strong gin sales.
Fever-Tree, which sells flavoured tonic water and other carbonated mixers, has rapidly grown over the last few years as sales of premium gin have surged in Britain and elsewhere.
The company said its performance in the UK over the Christmas period was particularly notable with an "impressive rate of sales growth" for its drinks.
Britons spent £461m on gin in 2017, a 32.5% increase from a year earlier and three times the sales seen in 2009, the Office for National Statistics said earlier this month.
"Whilst this is a notable achievement, there remains a significant opportunity in front of us across all our regions as Fever-Tree continues to drive the evolution of the mixer category," the company's co-founder and chief executive Tim Warrillow said.
Fever-Tree is named after the colloquial term for the cinchona tree, the bark of which produces quinine - a key ingredient in tonic water.
It is now one of the largest companies on London's junior AIM market, with a market value of around £4.06 billion.
Fever-Tree also said it signed two new distributor arrangements - one in the US with wine and spirits distributor Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, and the other with Spain's Grupo Damm, the maker of the Barcelona's popular beer Estrella Damm.
Fever-Tree said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to £34m in the six months ended June 30, from £25.2m, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 45% to £104.2m.
The company will pay an interim dividend of 4.22 pence per share, a 40% rise, it said.
