Diageo beer sales down £25m on pre-pandemic levels
Sales of Diageo beers in Northern Ireland last year were down £25 million on pre-pandemic levels.
The makers of Guinness revealed the figure which highlights just how severely the local hospitality sector was still being impacted by Covid-19.
New accounts also revealed a significant rise in off-sales of its spirits, which include Gordon’s gin, Smirnoff vodka, Baileys and Captain Morgan rum.
Diageo Northern Ireland reported beer sales of £79.7m for the 12 months ending June 30 2021. That’s 24% below the £105m it reported for the same period in 2019.
But, sales of spirits surged by 20% to £46.9m over the same period, up by £7.8m.
Diageo Northern Ireland finished the year to June 2021 with a turnover of £126.6m, 5.5% down year-on-year and 12.1% behind its pre-pandemic performance.
However, reduced outgoings and the boost to spirit sales helped keep the operation in the black, with pre-tax profits up 10% year-on-year to £2.86m.
Diageo Northern Ireland said that following the end of restrictions on hospitality on-trade business had now recovered by up to 90% of volumes experienced in 2019, but a full recovery is not predicted in the current financial year (ending June 2022).