The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) announces net income of $1.428 billion for its 2023-2024 fiscal year, a very slight increase of 0.1% compared to the previous year, while sales decreased in volume .
Sales stood at $4.101 billion, an increase of 1.3% compared to the year 2022-2023, when they amounted to $4.048 billion.
In terms of volume, however, sales decreased by 2.3% to 223 million liters, compared to 228.2 million liters for the year 2022-2023.
The financial year ended on March 30, 2024 and exceptionally had 53 weeks, which explains the slight increase in revenue despite the drop in sales volume.
The president and CEO of the SAQ, Jacques Farcy, states in the financial report that the fall in sales is a “generalized trend in the global wine and spirits industry, accentuated by a less vigorous economic context, while the “inflation continues to weigh on our customers’ wallets.”
Sales in the SAQ branch network increased by 2.4% to $3.773 billion, while those among wholesale grocers fell by 9.9% to $328 million.
Net expenses decreased 1.6% to $603.6 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Sales of Quebec products totaled $595.3 million for the year, an increase of 1.85% compared to $584.5 million last year. This represents 14.5% of the SAQ’s total sales.
Ready-to-drink products continued their rise on SAQ shelves. They represented 11.1% of sales for the year 2023-2024, an increase of 0.6%. Wine market share fell slightly to 71%, while spirits accounted for 16.7% of sales.