Inver House Distillers has reported a double-digit drop in full-year profits and sales, but has described the performance as “satisfactory”.

The Scotch whisky producer, which is part of International Beverage Holdings, the international arm of ThaiBev, said that net profits in the 12 months to the end of last December fell by 19.2% to GBP7.4m (US$11.9m). Sales in the period declined by 15.5% year-on-year to GBP77m, while operating profits slid by 20.6% to GBP10m. 

The company, which owns the Old Pulteney, An Cnoc, Speyburn and Balblair brands, flagged that it was cycling a tough comparable as 2012 sales were “execeptionally high” due to “an uneven spread of high-value sales between 2012 and 2011”.

It also blamed 2013's performance on a reduction in its bulk stock sales. The move was to “ensure that spirits stocks were conserved” for developing its brands in future years, the company said.

Earlier this year, Inver House Distillers announced it is investing GBP4m in doubling the capacity of its Speyburn Distillery.

A new report from the IWSR and just-drinks, released today, details a 0.8% fall in global Scotch whisky sales in volume terms last year.