They're feeling warmer at 42 Below

Vodka-maker 42 Below has moved a couple of sips closer to breaking even, aided by the lower dollar and continued growth in sales volumes.

The company made a loss of $3.29 million - compared with a $5.22 million loss a year earlier.

The result includes a one-off gain of $1.23 million on foreign exchange movements. More than half of 42 Below's sales are now in offshore markets.

Managing director Geoff Ross said the result was in line with the directors' expectations. He emphasised the company's strong liquidity (pun possibly intended).

"The company has total current assets of $20.31 million including $12.11 million of cash. There are no borrowings," he said. "The strong liquidity position gives the company a good platform to continue growing."

Case sales rose by 58 per cent in 2006; the company sold 87,916 nine litre equivalent cases, up from 55,547 cases in the year to March last year.

Ross said directors expected sales growth to continue in 2007.

After initially focusing only on the premium drinks market, 42 Below is now expanding to include the higher volume, lower margin products.

The company's 420 Spring Water and lower quality Stil Vodka are already on sale in New Zealand. They will soon be joined by a rum and a ready-to-drink product.