Hinch Distillery records £2m loss as stock value soars
Hinch Distillery recorded an operating loss of £2 million last year, new accounts show.
The business, which produces its own Irish whiskey brand Hinch and Ninth Wave Gin, was launched by serial entrepreneur Terry Cross and opened in 2021 on a site between Carryduff and Ballynahinch following a £15m investment.
Invest NI’s support included £1.9m toward the construction of the distillery as well as plant, machinery and equipment.
The latest accounts published on Companies House show Hinch Distillery Ltd has been running at a loss since 2000.
It brought the total losses for the three years ending June 2023 to £4.2m.
But Hinch has continued to build up its own stock of Irish whiskey in that time, which is accumulating value as each year passes.
Its latest accounts show the value of the distillery’s stock has increased by £2m per year in each of the past two financial years.
The latest accounts show the value increased from £5.5m in 2022 to £7.4m at the end of June last year.
The growing value of its spirit stock has helped Hinch narrow its liabilities, which fell from £9m in 2022 to £6.4m in the 2023 accounts.
The report states that the company continues to depend on the support of Dr Cross and his family as it builds up its growing portfolio of Irish whiskey products.
“The company meets its working capital requirements through financial support from its parent company and is dependent on this continuing support,” it states.
“Cross Family Group Holding Ltd, the parent company, has further agreed to support the company throughout the succeeding 12-month period.”
Dr Cross, who co-founded the Delta Print and Packaging company in Belfast in 1981, later sold the business to Finnish packaging giant Huhtamaki in 2016 in a deal worth around £80m.
Last the 73-year-old announced a £47m investment in a brand new packaging business in west Belfast.
Biopax is expected to create 169 jobs to the former Caterpillar site at Springvale Business Park by 2027.
