Whisky shipments delayed by US shutdown – Daily Business

Scotch Malt Whisky Society owner The Artisanal Spirits Company said the recent shutdown of the US government has delayed delivery of $3.2 million of stock.

The backlog directly impacts SMWS due to the unique model of the Society’s limited edition whiskies whereby each new bottle sold in the US requires a Certificate of Label Approval.

ASC says delaying approvals from 72 hours to six weeks will have a one-off non-cash impact on FY25 but does not impact the underlying business trajectory. The process has operated successfully operated for more than 30 years.

As a result, the shipments which were due to ship this month will be unable to clear US customs before the end of the year, due to the 100+ outstanding COLAs which are not expected to be issued until 2026.

These planned shipments would have taken full year SMWS America revenue to £4.2m, in line with both the average shipments and in-market sales for FY21-FY24 (£4.2m).

“These circumstances are entirely outside of the company’s control and will have a non-cash impact on the reported results for FY25 of c.£2.5m of revenue and c.£2m of EBITDA,” said ASC.

“However, importantly, this will have no impact on in-market operations, where depletions in Q4-25 to date have returned to single digit growth following the decline experienced in the previous 12 months.”

For FY26, the company anticipates revenue to be broadly flat versus FY25 underlying revenue (i.e. excluding the US one-offs noted above) and to deliver positive mid to high single digit EBITDA margin.

Andrew Dane, CEO of The Artisanal Spirits Company, commented: “The company had made good progress on the production and logistics required to deliver our full year US shipment plan. 

“It is therefore highly frustrating that this development – which is outside the Company’s control, will have an adverse effect on our reported results, albeit this is a non-cash impact and not a reflection of underlying trading levels.

“The US is the world’s largest market for Scotch Malt Whisky and while the market has been challenging over the last 12 months, the management actions implemented at the start of this year have been successful, momentum is improving and the US remains the largest longer-term strategic opportunity for the business.

“Hence, we have taken the decision to leverage the opportunity presented by the impact of the recent US government shutdown to accelerate the next stage of our strategic development in this market.”