Someone had a taste for craft-made ales in the September quarter, or, judging from figures from the Perth-based brewer Gage Roads, quite a few thousand people renewed or updated their love of the company’s products.
Gage yesterday updated investors on its first-quarter trading performance, with the company reporting a 54% increase in total sales when compared to the first quarter of 2019-20.
The listed beer maker produces draughts such as Atomic Pale Ale, Matso’s Ginger Beer, and a range of other brews under the Gage Roads label.
Sales in national retail chains recorded the highest growth over the three months to September, up 250% at 700,000 litres, and sales in independent stores also rose, up 140% to 1.2 million litres.
The company said it saw a 25% increase in draught keg sales but brand-in-hand volumes were down on Q1 9n 2019-20 because “there were fewer events being held due to COVID restrictions.”
Gage said it was pleased with the trading from its Atomic beer Project in Sydney’s Redfern which opened four weeks ago.
“Trading in the first few weeks has been very strong and has exceeded our internal revenue expectations. Visitor feedback has also been very positive and the social media engagement has been great,” the company said in the update.
The company said the strong first-quarter performance had built a strong base for a solid first-half performance that will see Gage concentrating on boosting its East Coast sales performance (the Redfern project is a key part of that strategy).
The shares jumped 10% to 6 cents, valuing the company had just over $68 million.
