Pernod Ricard FY sales surpass €10bn

French firm Pernod Ricard reported a 17% organic sales rise for fiscal 2022, driven by double-digit gains for all spirits categories.

For the year ending 30 June 2022, Absolut vodka owner Pernod Ricard saw sales break the €10bn barrier for the first time at €10.7 billion (US$10.72bn).

Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard, said: “Our sales broke the symbolic milestone of €10 billion with our fastest growth rate in over 30 years, delivering a record €3 billion profit from recurring operations at a record operating margin of 28.3%.

“Growth was driven by all regions, categories, price points and channels, with a comparable contribution from both mature and emerging markets.”

Sales benefitted from the ‘strong recovery’ of the on-trade, off-trade resilience and the ‘rapid rebound’ of travel retail, despite low passenger traffic in China, Pernod Ricard said.

The firm’s ‘strategic international brands’ grew by 18%, boosted by Jameson Irish whiskey (up 24%), Scotch brands Chivas Regal (up 29%) and Ballantine’s (up 24%), Absolut (up 19%) and Martell Cognac (up 7%).

Jameson surpassed 10 million nine-litre cases during the 12-month period, and is targeting 15m cases by 2030.

Pernod’s ‘strategic local brands’ also recorded an 18% rise, led by Seagram’s Indian whiskies, Kahlúa liqueur, Olmeca Tequila and Seagram’s Gin.

The ‘speciality brands’ division climbed by 24%, with ‘continued very rapid development’ driven by American whiskies (up 38%), gin (up 43%) and agave spirits brands (up 21%).

The company highlighted that speciality brands doubled their sales when compared to the 2019 full year.

In July, Pernod Ricard established a dedicated business arm to drive growth of its American whiskey portfolio, which includes Jefferson’s Bourbon and Rabbit Hole whiskey.

Strategic wines, on the other hand, declined by 4%.

The company said dynamism in its ‘must-win’ markets was strong, namely India (up 26%), travel retail (up 48%), the US (up 8%) and China (up 5%).

In terms of regions, the Americas rose by 12%, bolstered by North America and Latin America.

The Asia and rest-of-the-world region jumped by 19%, driven by India, Turkey, China and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sales in Europe also soared by 19%, boosted by Spain, Germany, France, Poland and the UK.

Ricard added: “While we are faced with a challenging and volatile environment, I am confident that our unique competitive advantages and the rapid deployment of our digital transformation will enable us to deliver our FY23 to FY25 medium-term financial framework.”