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Rémy Cointreau first quarter sales slip 2.1%
French drinks group Rémy Cointreau saw its fiscal 2016/17 Q1 reported sales fall 2.1% to €218.6 million, with the Rémy Martin Cognac brand decreasing by 3.2%.
Rémy Martin’s reported sales slipped 3.2% in 2016/17 Q1
Despite the reported losses, Rémy Cointreau stated the performance was stable on an organic basis and stressed the sales trend was “in line with our expectations”.
Geographically, the Americas region had a “very good” first quarter, spurred on by Cognac sales. Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was driven by growth in emerging markets. While depletions in Asia Pacific continued to accelerate, revenues dipped “as expected”.
While Rémy Martin recorded an “excellent performance” in the Americas, Rémy Cointreau reported “one-off” declines across EMEA and Asia Pacific. Despite this, Rémy Cointreau said demand for high-end qualities remained “buoyant”, even “accelerating”, driven by communications investments – most notably the One Life/Live Them campaign which launched in October 2015.
The Liqueurs and Spirits division saw a slight drop-off in Cointreau sales, attributed to the timing of Easter and early orders ahead of first-quarter price increases.
Metaxa’s growth continued thanks to improvements in its key German, Polish and Russian markets, while the Islay Spirits (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore Scotch plus The Botanist Gin) maintained strong growth in Q1 thanks to new listings in travel retail, the US, France and the UK, plus expansion into new markets including Austria, Australia and Africa.
A “strong performance” by St-Rémy XO was masked by an entry-level sales decline in Nigeria, while end demand for Passoa returned to “healthy growth” in France and the UK.
“At the end of this first quarter – fully in line with the group’s forecasts – Rémy Cointreau confirms its guidance of growth in current operating profit over the 2016/17 fiscal year, assuming constant exchange rates and consolidation scope,” the statement read.
The company added that the first quarter does not traditionally make a significant contribution to annual sales.
In June this year, Eric Vallat, Rémy Martin CEO, told The Spirits Business “the worst is behind us in China” as the brand returned to positive depletions in the market.