Rémy returns to growth in third quarter

Spirits producer Rémy Cointreau has bounced back from a poor first half of 2015/16, posting 3.2% organic growth in the latest three months to 31 December.

Rémy Cointreau CEO Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet

Better performance in the US, where it has been premiumising its key brands lately, and its bugbear Chinese market have been thanked for the improved performance.

It takes the company’s reported growth in the nine months to 31 December to 14.5% – organically a 0.2% uptick – as it generated sales of €799.2 million (£618m).

The performance has given the company – which produces Cointreau liqueur, Bruichladdich Scotch and Rémy Martin Cognac – confidence to restate its expectation of ending the financial year with positive growth in operating profit.

The good news comes after he company revealed in October that its value sales declined by 5.9% in the first half of 2015/16, with drops across its entire portfolio only countered marginally by favourable currency fluctuation.

Rémy Martin Cognac dropped 3.1% organically and Liqueurs and Sprits – including flagship brands Cointreau and Bruichladdich – fell by 8.3%.

This negative growth turned around in the latest quarter, with Rémy Martin growing by 6.4% and Liqueurs and Spirits growing by 4%.