SCOTTISH brewery and bar group BrewDog has reported a surge in revenue in its latest financial results.
However, the fast-expanding company – which wants to have 300 bars worldwide by the end of this decade – fell into the red, due to factors including significant investment in the business.
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Accounts for 2022 just lodged at Companies House show revenue jumped by more than 12% year on year to £321million.
But earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation dropped from £20.4million in 2021 to losses of £3.5million last year.
Ellon-based BrewDog said 2022 had been another year of strong revenue growth.
It added: “The group invested significantly in brand-building activity, people development, new retail locations and brewing capacity while being impacted by exceptionally-high input prices in both brewing and retail activities.
“The loss in the year reflects the impact of the significant investment together with the input prices which were not passed onto consumers during the year.
“The investments made during 2022 result in an excellent platform for continued growth.”
BrewDog – one of the biggest business success stories in the North-east in recent years – began in a small way in a Fraserburgh garage in 2007, but is now a multinational operation valued not far off £2billion.
Last August, the company opened its largest-ever bar in central London – BrewDog Waterloo.
CEO James Watt said at the time: “Our plans for BrewDog Waterloo are as exciting as the city it lies at the heart of. This is our new flagship bar for London. so we are making it a true destination.”
The North-east company has been in the Chinese market since 2015 and opened a bar in Shanghai in 2020.
Partnership in China
It said earlier this year that it had signed a partnership agreement with Bud China to allow the fast tracking of the Chinese business.
Craft beer is growing massively in China – the market is about 10 times bigger than it was a decade ago.
The Ellon company is also looking to open up to 10 BrewDog bars in China over the next five years.
The business currently has more than 100 bars across the globe, exports into 60 countries and has breweries abroad in Columbus Ohio, Berlin Germany and Brisbane Australia.
The firm wants to become one of the world’s five most valuable beer brands over the next five years.
At the heart of the BrewDog operation is its base in Ellon, which features the largest craft brewery in Europe.
The north-east location has seen massive investment of more than £120million in the last decade.
