Jose Cuervo parent firm Becle posts 72% surge in Q4 profit as sales jump

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican distiller Becle, the parent company of the popular Jose Cuervo tequila brand, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net profit surged by nearly three-quarters, spurred by sales growth in all the regions where the company operates.

Becle’s quarterly earnings jumped 72% to 1.6 billion pesos ($77 million), easily beating the Refinitiv estimate of 1.2 billion pesos.

Revenue for the company, whose portfolio includes more than 30 alcoholic beverage brands, climbed 22% year-on-year to 13.1 billion pesos, supported by strong demand despite supply chain constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter rose to 2.3 billion pesos, well ahead of the Refinitiv estimate of 1.9 billion pesos.

Analysts at Barclays had said in a mid-January report the company was positioned well to benefit through 2022.

($1 = 20.5075 pesos at end-December)

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire and Noe Torres; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Kenneth Maxwell)