AS Amber Latvijas Balzams
Annual Report 2024
5
MANAGEMENT REPORT
Operating activities
AS Amber Latvijas Balzams (hereinafter also “the Company”) is a leading producer of alcoholic
beverages in the Baltic states. The Company was founded in 1900 as Rīgas Valsts Degvīna Noliktava
Nr. 1 (State Alcohol Warehouse No. 1). From 1970 to 2022, it operated under the name AS Latvijas
Balzams, but 2022, it changed to AS Amber Latvijas Balzams. The Company’s major shareholder is
Amber Beverage Group Holding S.à r.l. (a company registered in Luxembourg, hereinafter also referred
to as the Parent Company or ABGH), which owns 89.99% of the Company shares.
The Company runs two alcoholic beverage production plants in Rīga, a spirits production plant and a
sparkling wine and light alcoholic beverage production plant. They make most types of alcoholic
beverages, such as sparkling wines, fortified wines, ciders, alcopops, vodka, liqueurs, brandy, spirits,
gin, etc. Some AS Amber Latvijas Balzams recipes are several centuries old with Rīgas Melnais
Balzams® origins going back to 1752.
Overall, the Company produces more than 100 brands of beverages. The Company’s products are sold
in almost all regions of the world through Amber Beverage Group and Stoli Group, as well as direct
export.
The Company works with the largest suppliers of raw materials and consumables in the European
Union. The most important resources are water and alcohol-containing raw materials. Water is taken
from artesian wells on the Company’s site. Ethyl alcohol for most of the products is supplied by the
Company's partners working in the European Union.
A small, but still significant, part of the Company’s business is the logistics services. The services are
mainly provided to related companies, but the volume of services to other companies in the alcoholic
beverage industry, such as transit services, customs warehousing services, logistics services, value-
added services, consolidation, etc., keeps going up. These activities enable more efficient use of
available resources.
AS Amber Latvijas Balzams successfully operates as a European logistics centre for the distribution of
the brands represented by the Group (Rooster Rojo Tequila, KAH Tequila, Bayou Rum, Arinzano,
Achaval Ferrer, Se Busca, Cenote and Kentucky Owl) in Europe, Scandinavia and other countries.
As a socially responsible and sustainable company, we publish the information required by law about
our sustainability and corporate social responsibility measures in accordance with the GRI (Global
Reporting Initiative) principles. This information is available in the Corporate Social Responsibility
section of the Company’s website.
The Company has drafted and adheres to the following procedures: Corporate Social Responsibility
Policy, Company Procurement Procedure, Collective Bargaining Agreement, Quality Management
Handbook, Ethical Marketing Communication Code, Anti-Corruption Policy, Data Protection Policy, Risk
Management Policy, Remote Work Policy and other internal documents. These documents, policies and
procedures are reviewed regularly, both internally in accordance with the Quality Management System
and as a part of external audits. The audit results and planned corrective measures are considered at
the Company’s management meetings.
The company is more diligent in ensuring information disclosure and the level of detail in this report has
been improved which has a positive impact on informing the parties involved and creating predictable
and stable long-term relationships.
Pursuant to the good corporate governance practice, the Company appointed one of the leading audit
service providers in the world as a new auditor of the 2024 annual report.
Company's operations in the reporting year
Financial performance
In 2024, the Company’s net turnover reached EUR 78.2 million, which is 20.1% less than in the same
period of 2023. In 2024, total sales (expressed in 9Lcs) were 19.1% lower than in the same period of
2023. The order volumes in 2024 were affected by strategic decisions regarding the development of the
Stoli brand made by Stoli Group as the largest customer with a share of 40% of the total volumes.