Leading drinks group Pernod Ricard today reported first-quarter sales of €3,042 million, down by -8% on a reported basis and -2% in organic terms. The figures were hit by a declining US market, a high comparison basis to last year and an unfavourable foreign exchange impact.
Travel retail performance was ‘stable’, said the group, with normalisation of the market continuing. Passenger traffic worldwide is back to around 90% of pre-pandemic levels, Pernod Ricard noted, with gradual recovery in Asia although sales have been affected by shipment phasing and a high comparison basis to last year. Strong growth in travel retail is expected across the full financial year.
Among other key markets, China sales fell -8%, India rose +1% with Europe also up +1%. Of China, Pernod Ricard noted the “challenging macroeconomic environment with softer consumer demand” although it maintains a positive outlook for the full year.
Sales of Strategic International Brands fell -3% in Q1 year-on-year, mainly driven by the performance of Martell in China, Jameson and Absolut in the US and Chivas Regal in Latin America. This was partly offset by a strong performance from Ricard and Perrier-Jouët and with growth on Ballantine’s, The Glenlivet, Malibu and Royal Salute.
For FY24 Pernod Ricard said it expected “broad-based and diversified Organic Net Sales growth, with a positive outlook on US and China and strong growth in travel retail and India”.
Chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard said: “As expected we experienced a soft start to the year, yet I am encouraged we have largely offset declines in US and China this quarter, thanks to our good performance in other markets.
“Our strategy over many years has been to build a diversified portfolio and broad geographic footprint across mature and emerging markets. This strategy provides us with the resilience to weather challenging times enabling a consistently solid performance.
“In the months to come I look forward to sharing with you exciting brand activations and innovations across our full portfolio. I am confident that we can deliver broad-based and diversified organic sales growth in FY24.” ✈
