Decreasing Sales at Zwack Unicum

Total gross sales at the company amounted to HUF 10,724 million in the first half of the 2020-2021 business year - a year-on-year decrease of 12.3%. Net sales (that is, sales revenues excluding excise tax and public health product tax) were HUF 5,724 million, which is a a year-on-year decrease of 11.5%.

A report by the company highlights that during the second quarter of the business year domestic sales strongly improved. In the first quarter, domestic sales had a year-on-year decrease of 24.1% mostly due to COVID-19 pandemic-related government measures to close, for two months, on-trade units (which account for about a half of the company’s domestic revenues).

As in the July-September period there were no such restrictions, sales recovered. In fact, in the second quarter of the business year the Company posted a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. While the two summer months brought tangible increase, in September the second wave of the pandemic caused another major setback.

Zwack Unicum Plc. is the biggest player in Hungary’s spirits market. As nearly 90% of its revenues are domestically generated, trends in domestic consumption are crucial for its wellbeing.

The consumption of premium alcoholic drinks has grown in Hungary over the past few years but the COVID-19 pandemic will most likely upset that that trend for 2020 (in total consumption of retail and gastronomy), the company report points out.