Marie Brizard reports tricky Q4 and FY sales decline
Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits (MBWS) struggled to keep sales on the up during its fourth quarter, resulting in a 2.8% decline for its 2024 full financial year.
In 2024, the French firm, whose portfolio includes William Peel Scotch whisky, saw its revenue fall to €188.4 million (US$197.3m), down from €194.2m (US$203.4m) in 2023.
A positive performance in its home market (sales in France went up by 0.7% in 2024) was unable to offset the 5.5% decline internationally.
Revenue generated in France reached €83.9m (US$87.7m) for the group in 2024, with sales during the fourth quarter (Q4) up by 1.1% year-on-year to €22m.
The company noted positive uptakes of its ‘strategic brands’, including the listing of additional flavours of the Marie Brizard range.
Across both the on- and off-trade, all Marie Brizard’s ‘strategic international brands’ experienced increased sales last year, except for Scotch whisky William Peel, which MBWS said was ‘in line with market trends for less than 12-year-old blends in the off-trade’.
The company noted: “If the current trend in the spirits market continues into 2025, this environment will have to be addressed in the context of the very strong impact of inflation on the cost of aged spirits, distilled and produced during the recent period of inflation, which in France will mainly affect the William Peel brand.”
International market performances
Looking at the international markets, and total revenue fell to €104.5m (US$109.4m) last year.
Sales in Spain declined by almost a third (32.3%) in Q4, mainly due to the postponement of production in the industrial services subcontracting business, as a result of maintenance planned for Q4.
In Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa, full-year revenue was down by 3.8% – including a 15.3% decline in Q4. This was attributed to sharp declines in the UK and Benelux countries. However, MBWS noted its Marie Brizard, Sobieski and William Peel strategic brands did well in Italy, Germany, Africa and the Middle East.
Lithuania was down by 8.5% by the end of 2024, and Bulgaria dropped by 6.2%.
After showing signs of recovery in the third quarter, sales in Denmark tumbled by 26.1% during Q4. The market ended the year up on 2023, however, with a 1.0% sales increase, boosted by William Peel and ‘agency brands’.
Cognac Gautier gave Eastern Europe a boost for MBWS in Q4, which saw a 23.3% spike in total sales. However, this was not enough to offset a ‘difficult year’, which ended in a 33.4% sales decrease in 2024.
US sales also struggled in Q4 (down by 22.7% due to the postponement of some shipments for the first quarter of 2025). Full-year sales in the US were down by 1.9% overall, linked to a steep drop in shipments of Marie Brizard, which was only partially offset by the growth of Sobiestki.
Looking ahead to 2025, MBWS warned: “The beginning of 2025 has been characterised by the continued slowdown in the wine and spirits markets, coupled with limited and volatile commercial visibility in a sector that could also be affected by the possibility of new customs tariffs increases.
“In addition, as already indicated, the year will be marked by the very strong impact of inflation on the cost price of ageing spirits and those produced during the inflationary period. This mainly concerns Scotch whisky and Cognac, and is likely to have a particularly negative impact on the profitability of the France cluster.”
