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Pernod Ricard and Diageo report mixed figures for first quarter performance

Published:  24 October, 2013

First quarter results issued this week have revealed mixed fortunes for the sector's major drinks companies with Pernod Ricard posting an organic net sales loss of 1%, whilst Diageo returned an organic net sales growth of 3.1%.

Pernod Ricard sighted the slowdown in emerging markets for its fall in sales and also blamed unfavourable exhange rates as accounting for a 9% decrease in reported growth. Its performance in Asia and the rest of the world posted a 14% decline compared to last year's Q1 numbers.

The growth of priority premium wines (+1%) was driven by Brancott Estate and Campo Viejo. Net sales for the first quarter of 2013/14 totalled € 2,013 million.

Pierre Pringeut, chief executive officer of Pernod Ricard, said: "Our first quarter was adversely affected by the slowdown in emerging markets and unfavourable technical effects. However, we remain confident in the diversity of our portfolio and the strength of our distribution network."

Diageo on the other hand had positive organic net growth, with Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as North America posting the largest gains. Latin America posted a 10.9%increase and North America posted a 5.1% increase in organic net sales growth. The termination of the distribution agreement of Jose Cuervo had a negative impact on numbers and that has had an effect in pulling the sales numbers down.

Ivan Menezes, chief Executive of Diageo, said: "Our performance in the quarter was good given weakness in some markets. The strength of our biggest business, US spirits, underpinned our performance. While there are headwinds in some emerging markets, including the impact of the government policies in China, there are also markets in which we continue to deliver robust growth and Diageo's strength is the diversity of our geographic breadth and broad category reach. "

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