HELSINKI: Alko on Friday announced that its annual revenue has grown in spite of a decrease in sales volume.
On Friday, the state-owned alcohol retail monopoly reported that last year its revenue crept up by 2.8 million Euros year-on-year to 1,162.7 million Euros, while its sales volume decreased by 500,000 liters to 93.5 million liters – equivalent to 15.7 million liters of pure alcohol.
Hille Korhonen, the chief executive of Alko, interprets the numbers as an indication of the rising quality of alcoholic beverages consumed in Finland.
Alko revealed, for example, that the sales of sparkling wines increased by roughly 3.5 percent year-on-year to 5.4 million liters, those of rosé wines by 11 percent to 1.0 million liters and those of non-alcoholic beverages by 27 percent to 500,000 liters.
The sales of red wines, by contrast, tapered off by some 1.5 percent year-on-year to 24.5 million liters and those of vodkas by 1.5 percent to 13.9 million liters.
The decline in sales volume was to some extent slowed down by the web-shop launched by the alcohol retailer in the second half of last year.
“The web-shop has exceeded our expectations,” Korhonen states in a press release. “The web-shop was our largest shop in December, indicating that the demand for its services clearly exists. We will continue to develop the web-shop and its services, and will invite our customers to participate in the development.”
Alko also reported that its operating profit declined by 3.1 million from the previous year to 46.6 million Euros in 2016. Its board of directors is consequently proposing a dividend payout of 30 million Euros.
