(Reuters) - Fevertree Drinks <FEVR.L> said on Thursday it expects to report a surge in revenue for 2018, as warmer-than-usual summer and Christmas demand drove sales of its flavoured tonic water and other mixers.
Shares of the company opened 8.5 percent higher as it said it expects revenue to have increased by 39 percent to 236 million pounds in the year ended Dec. 31.
Fevertree has rapidly grown over the last few years as sales of high-end gin surged in Britain, while also pushing ahead with its expansion in the United States.
More than 66 million bottles of gin were sold in the country last year, a rise of 41 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.
Fevertree, named after the colloquial term for the cinchona tree whose bark produces tonic water ingredient quinine, said UK revenue jumped nearly 52 percent in 2018.
The company also said it expects the outcome for the full year will be comfortably ahead of its expectations.
"We continue to view Fevertree Drinks as one of the most attractive growth stories in European beverages," Jefferies analyst said in a note.
Shares of the company have jumped more than 15-fold since their debut on London's junior market in November 2014.
(Reporting by Karina Dsouza and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
