Tim Warrilow – the chief executive and co-founder of premium British tonic maker Fever-Tree – has offloaded a £28.9 million stake in the business, a day after it upgraded its profit forecast on the back of a 77% surge in revenue.
The sale of 1.5 million shares reduces Warrilow’s holding to 5.4%. Non-executive chairman Bill Ronald has also sold 50,000 shares at a slightly higher price for £104,000 overall.
FoodBev understands that Fever-Tree has 115.24 million shares outstanding, meaning that the stake sold by chief executive Warrilow represents roughly 1.3% of all shares. Bill Ronald’s sold stake equates to less than 0.05%.
Yesterday, Fever-Tree reported first-half revenue of £71.9 million – up 77% – with pre-tax earnings of £25.2 million.
Warrilow had praised the company’s latest full-year profit projection, which was boosted by UK growth of 113% in the first half of the year.
“The really encouraging thing is that we are seeing growth across all regions,” Warrilow said. “In the UK, [mixers] are now the fastest-growing soft drink category, growing at 17% in the first half of the year. And the statistic we are proudest of is that Fever-Tree contributed to 99% of that growth, so it is very encouraging.”
Fever-Tree’s share price was up 18% after the results were published, and has risen more than 1,100% since it was first floated in November 2014.
Earlier this year, fellow co-founder Charles Rolls sold a 4% stake in the business for £70 million.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024