Portuguese billionaire blasts management at Stock Spirits, again...
The long running dust up between the management of vodka distiller Stock Spirits and Luis Amaral, the Portuguese billionaire who owns 10pc of the business, continues unabated.
London-listed Stock Spirits announced preliminary results this morning that didn't seem to worry the market too much (shares up a 1pc or so in morning trade). In case you missed it, here is a link to the company's statement:
http://www.investegate.co.uk/stock-spirits-group--stck-/rns/final-results/201703080700088006Y/
However, Mr Amaral has got in touch with little old Betaville to air his grievances against the management of Stock Spirits. Here is what the feisty entrepreneur said:
“Having initiated the root and branch strategic review, I cannot understand how the chairman of Stock Spirits can be ‘pleased’ with these results. EBITDA has fallen H2 2016 on H2 2015 by 22% across the Group and worryingly by 29% in the core market of Poland, principally as a result of yet another slide in market share. In addition, costs have not fallen at all. Shareholders simply do not understand why the Company insists on keeping its expensive head office in the UK.
“As the biggest independent shareholder in Stock Spirits, we are concerned by these continuing trends. All the many changes the Company has made in the last 12 months seem to have had no impact on what is important to investors: an improvement in the core market of Poland; and a reduction in bloated costs. Further radical change is required to address this downward spiral.”
And I suspect that's not the last time Betaville's going to hear from Mr Amaral.....