Pernod hails ‘very good start to the year’

A solid performance across key regions boosted Pernod Ricard’s organic sales by 5.7% in the first quarter of its financial year.

Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard

The French drinks group’s organic sales hit €2.29 billion (US$2.7bn), only a 2% increase in reported terms due to “unfavourable FX impact”.

Asia and rest of the world markets grew by 7% organically to €940m thanks to “strong” results in China and a “rebound” in travel retail and Africa Middle East.

Travel retail’s acceleration continued in the Americas, which saw total growth of 6% to €652m. In particular, the US experience solid gains.

Despite a decline in France and “slow start” in Spain, sales in Europe grew by 3% to €701m, boosted by Eastern Europe. In the emerging markets, sales increased 10%.

Pernod Ricard’s ‘strategic international brands’ reported “broad-based growth”, with overall sales increasing 8%. The ban on consuming alcohol close to highways in India caused ‘strategic local brands’ to experience “subdued” growth of 2%.

Pernod Ricard’s CEO, Alexandre Ricard, confirmed that the group expects to register profit from recurring operations growth of between 3% and 5%.

“We have had a very good start to the year, with our growth accelerating and diversifying in terms of both markets and brands,” said Ricard. “This is again testimony to the success of the strategic direction we adopted two years ago.”

He added: “We will continue to implement our roadmap, in particular focusing on digital, innovation and operational excellence.”

In FY17, Pernod Ricard’s net profit hit €1.39bn, while organic sales grew by 3.6% to reach €9.01bn.

Earlier this year, Alexandre Ricard spoke to The Spirits Business about his company’s strategic change to a consumer-centric business model, encompassed by its ‘moments of convivialité’ tagline.