E-Malt.com News article: Canada: Brick Brewing releases financial results for the third quarter of 2015 fiscal year

Brick Brewing Co. Limited, the largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery in Ontario, released its financial results for the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, newswire.ca reported on December, 11.

Net revenues were C $9.3 mln for the third quarter while EBITDA for the third quarter was C $1.4 mln. Year-to-date, EBITDA was C $3.6 mln, vs C $3.2 mln for the prior year.

Waterloo craft brands performed well, posting volume growth exceeding 50%. Waterloo growth was broad based, with the introduction of Waterloo Grapefruit Radler being supported by growth in the core product offerings - Dark, IPA, Pilsner and Amber- as well as the Summer seasonal mix pack. Seagram vodka cooler volume was negatively impacted by discontinued product listings in the LCBO, however both Seagram cider and Seagram malt-based coolers generated strong growth in the quarter. Laker volume declined in the quarter, driven by a Laker 12 pack launch promotion in the prior year that did not repeat and an overall decline in industry volume. Additionally, the quarter benefited from strong year-over-year improvement in co-pack production. Gross margin in the quarter was impacted primarily by shifts in product mix and higher costs of brewing materials. Through the first three quarters, gross margin % has improved to 27.1% vs. 26.1% in the comparable period for the prior year.

George Croft, Brick Brewing's President and Chief Executive Officer noted, "We're very pleased with the results we're reporting today, particularly in Waterloo craft. Our focus on driving growth in this important and growing category is paying dividends. Also, last year's results were somewhat volatile quarter to quarter, and this year we expected a return to more normalized quarterly performance. This is what we've seen, with Q3 results reflecting a more traditional seasonal decline coming out of the peak summer months. The exceptional growth in our Waterloo craft premium brands, along with improvement in pricing, the attention to cost control and operating efficiency, all contributed to our strong year-to-date performance."

12 December, 2014