Alcohol sales and the gradual lifting of health measures in 2021 have smiled on the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), which has increased its profits by 10.7% in barely a year.
The SAQ revealed on Tuesday that it had made a net profit totaling $1.35 billion during its 2021-2022 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, an increase of $130.9 million compared to fiscal 2020- 2021.
This entire amount will be donated entirely to the provincial government. In addition, by accounting for the taxes on alcohol collected by the SAQ, the Crown corporation finds itself, in fact, paying $2.085 billion to Quebec City and $496.5 million to Ottawa.
“The easing of sanitary measures, which began in the second quarter, continued until the end of December, thus contributing to the increase in sales of the SAQ”, advanced the SAQ to explain its results.
In addition, “the gradual reopening of the restaurant and bar sector during the fiscal year contributed to an increase in sales of $ 200.9 million to this clientele”, underlined the SAQ.
The state-owned company also noted a return to normal in the consumption habits of Quebecers, who “came more frequently to the branch, but made lower value purchases during their visits”.
Thus, the average value of purchases has gone from $76.05 in 2020-2021 to $68.94 in 2021-2022, a figure which shows that Quebecers no longer stock up so much all at once by going to the SAQ.
In terms of products, Quebecers showed strong enthusiasm for ready-to-drink products, the value of which increased by 43.7%. Products from La Belle Province, for their part, experienced a 10.6% increase and now represent 15.3% of sales made by the SAQ.