The Dutch group’s revenue stood at €39.4m for the half year ended 30 September 2015, down from €40.8m the year previous.

Stock reductions in Asia-Pacific were blamed for the fall in sales.

Huub van Doorne, CEO Lucas Bols said: “In the past six months we have seen a slight decrease in revenue, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region where one-off in-market stock reductions in the second quarter impacted revenue.

“Our overall operating profit level was impacted by lower revenue and currency effects but given our reduced net debt and the consequent reduction in finance costs, we reported a substantially higher net result of €7.7 million.”

The group saw a positive trend in North America. Van Doorne said: “In North America we see our market strategy for growth pay-off, with a healthy organic revenue increase of 3.4%."

The company has recently introduced two new flavours to its Bols Liqueur range and new marketing initiatives to “engage” with its markets and “strengthen the Bols brand”.