UK-based spirits maker Distil is exploring its options for “immediate short-term funding” after seeing its revenues more than halve from April to July this year.

The listed company, which owns RedLeg Spiced Rum and Blackwoods Gin, revealed today (14 August) that it generated revenues of ￡204,000 ($262,000) in the four-month period, compared to ￡453,000 the previous year.

As a result, the Distil board has lowered the business’ full-year outlook but claimed the expectation “remains positive versus 2023 outturn”, according to a London Stock Exchange filing.

Distil executive chairman Don Goulding said there is still “an immediate short-term funding need within the business and the Board is currently exploring funding options to address this need”.

He said: “The business had anticipated lower sales in the first four months of the year due to phasing trends, however the results achieved sit below expectations. In light of this, we have revised our expectations for the full year which, despite the disappointing performance year to date, still anticipate revenue growth versus 2023.

“The decline has been driven by an extraordinarily challenging economic environment, as consumers are faced with ongoing inflationary pressures which are putting a strain on spending.

“While this is an issue affecting all global markets, for 2024, this has been exacerbated in the UK by the poor weather, leading to further curbs on socialising both in and out of home.”

Last November, Distil announced that it had raised ￡756,000 to boost its working capital ahead of the festive period and to help fund its longer-term growth plans.

There were three notable investors in the spirit distillers’ capital funding round. Grain GmbH, a company associated Distil’s non-executive director Roland Grain, invested ￡200,000. Bero SAS bought ￡120,000 worth of shares, while sustainability investor Dr Graham Cooley put ￡200,000 into the distiller.

Goulding added in today’s stock filing: “Q1 and July trading was considerably softer than expected and has required the business to pivot in order to drive volumes across our brands through increased consumer-facing activity.

“This has included an increase in promotional activity to drive awareness and trial, as well as to secure key on-trade listings, the benefits of which we expect to begin to see once the market shows signs of recovery.”

Distil reported a loss of ￡1.17m for its financial 2024, compared to a loss of ￡748,000 the year before.

For the twelve months ended 31 March 2024, Distil generated ￡1.52m in revenue, up from ￡1.32m. However, its total administrative expenses jumped from ￡1.49m in 2023 to ￡1.83m in 2024, as gross margins fell from 52% to 48%.