Good Q1 for Pernod despite currency woes

Dynamic sales in the US boosted Pernod Ricard’s first quarter, it announced today, but the company was hit by foreign exchange volatility.

Pernod Ricard CEO Alexandre Ricard (Photo: Pernod Ricard)

The French booze giant saw sales up 8% across the Americas, driven by a strong performance in the US (+5%) and US travel retail, with solid growth also reported across Europe, where sales grew 6% in the 12 weeks.  Spain, Germany, the UK and Russia did particularly well, it noted. Sales across China were flat (-1%) but stable, it said, but India was in 8% growth and emerging markets also rose, up 6%, but the climate in Africa and the Middle East was “tougher”.

Most of the growth came from the international brands, with Jameson and Ballantine showing momentum, as well as Indian whiskies and gin brand Seagram’s. but wine sales suffered, falling -1%, which it attributed to “shipment phasing”.

Growth was also hampered by the impact of foreign exchange, which was negatively impacted -3% by Sterling, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi and Argentine Peso.

Chairman and chief executive officer Alexandre Ricard said it was a good start to the year, and confirmed the company was on track for growth of +25 – +4% in the financial year.

“We will continue to implement our long-term growth strategy, focusing investments behind our priority brands, markets and innovations and remaining disciplined on pricing and costs,” he said.