Drinks company in the mix for yet another celebratory year after claiming top spot

SHARES in Fever-Tree have fizzed up after the premium mixer maker seized the UK market’s top spot and backed annual earnings to outstrip forecasts.

Shares were nearly 5% higher in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, as investors toasted a bright outlook from the drinks firm, with total full-year sales expected to soar 66% to £169m.

The boost was underpinned by a rousing performance on home soil, as a strong second half of 2017 transformed the company into the nation’s number one player and put annual UK sales on track for 96% growth compared with 2016.

Fever-Tree, launched in the UK in 2005 by Charles Rolls and Tim Warrillow, said the “full year will be comfortably ahead of market expectations”.

Mr Warrillow, co-founder and chief executive, said: “I am very proud of our performance in 2017, which has seen Fever-Tree end the year as the number one mixer brand at UK retail.

Proud: Tim Warrillow

“While we have seen strong growth across all regions, our performance in the UK over the Christmas period was once again exceptional.

“There is clear evidence that the same trends of premiumisation and mixability that we’ve previously highlighted are accelerating and we are increasingly excited by the global opportunity this presents, particularly as we transition to our own operations in the US.”

Annual sales across continental Europe are expected to be 42% ahead of 2016. From left: Evie Gates, Victoria McAdoo and Laura-Anne Hann of Web Bureau with Hannah Corbett from Hastings Hotels at the first Digi-Talk: The Forum hosted by Hastings. Representatives of more than 100 businesses from industries including education, tourism, hospitality, medical and retail attended, where they heard from Web Bureau about digital trends for 2018