Thu 8th Jun 2023 - BrewDog reports ‘strong’ start to 2023 as full-year revenue hits record-breaking £320m BrewDog reports ‘strong’ start to 2023 as full-year revenue hits record-breaking £320m: Scottish brewer and retailer BrewDog has reported a “strong” start to 2023 with sales in the first quarter up 20% year-on-year as “momentum continues to build”. It comes as the business saw record-breaking revenue of £320m for the year ending 31 December 2022, up 13% from 2021 (£268m) “in a UK beer market that was down 12%”. The bars business achieved revenue growth of 69% year-on-year. BrewDog reported an operating loss of £24m, with adjusted Ebitda of £600,000. Last year, the company still delivered "market leading" beer volume growth of 66% versus pre-pandemic. During 2022, the group launched its two largest ever sites, at London Waterloo and Las Vegas, alongside with new bars in Atlanta, Brisbane and a number of locations in the UK. The original brewing facility in Ellon was also upgraded with a new brewhouse and additional canning line, which has more than doubled capacity. The site also got a £12m on-site bio-energy plant to improve sustainability. More than 500,000 trees have now planted in the BrewDog Lost Forest. The group's distillery has moved into a new, purpose-built site, increasing capacity by 300%. Also during the year, BrewDog codified an ethical marketing approach in a formal policy document, "proving our commitment to fair and honest communications as a brand”. Chief executive James Watt said: “We are very proud of what we have built and achieved in 2022 but at the same time the year was certainly not without its challenges. While we were positive (just!) from an adjusted profitability perspective, underlying profitability was not quite where we want it to be. We faced huge cost price pressures, soaring inflation and an unprecedented hike in energy bills across our business – all of these factors impacted profitability in 2022. Furthermore, we invested heavily in our future growth and in sustainability in 2023. A new on-site bio-energy facility, a new brewhouse and a new canning line saw almost £40m of investment in Ellon alone coupled with more than £25m of investment in flagship locations such as Las Vegas and Waterloo. These investments put the key building blocks of our future growth in place. 2023 has started very well for us and we continue to take market share in our key channels with especially strong growth in the second quarter of this year as momentum continues to build for our business. Being recently named on named on The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 list was a huge development for us as we continue to invest in our amazing people. We remain laser focussed on our three foundational pillars: beer, people and planet. We are on a mission to elevate the status of beer in as many people’s lives as possible while being the best employer we possibly can be and while doing all we can to help save our home planet. We have such a bright future ahead of us, and one that we will continue to back and invest in today, to ensure we realise it tomorrow.” BrewDog said “significant work” has been undertaken to mitigate the impact of cost increases, with rationalisation and competitive tendering of suppliers, efficiency improvements in production and menu engineering in bars and hotels. BrewDog operates more than 100 bars globally, along with four breweries and five hotels. The group has already set a goal of opening 100 bars across India in the next ten years, with five sites already planned to open in 2023. BrewDog features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the latest edition of which will be sent to Premium subscribers tomorrow (Friday, 9 June). Its turnover of £320m is the 26th highest in the database. The Blue Book ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.