Asia drives strong Q1 growth at Pernod Ricard

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 18 October, 2018

Pernod Ricard’s first quarter figures revealed strong growth underpinned by China and India the Asian markets.

Sales during the period totalled €2,387 million, representing organic sales growth of 10.4%, with China and an increasingly thirsty India being major drivers behind a 23% sales increase across Asia and non-US and European territories.

Sales in the markets of the Americas and Europe, by contrast, grew by a modest 2% and 1% respectively, with countries such as France and Spain in decline, but off-set by strong sales in Eastern Europe.

However, Performance in Travel Retail was described as “strong” in both the Americas and Asia.

Pernod Ricard described the traditional western European markets as “challenging”, while saying that the “underlying trend remains broadly in lien with the market” in the Americas.

Reported growth for the period was 7.3%, lower than expected, with this put down to the impact of foreign exchange, with the Indian Rupee and Turkish Lira singled out for mention.

“We have had a particularly good start to the year, as expected. In an uncertain geopolitical and monetary environment, we confirm our FY19 guidance of organic growth in Profit from Recurring Operations of between +5% and +7%,” said Pernod Ricard’s chairman and CEO, Alexandre Ricard.

The group said that it will continue to focus on digital, innovation and operational excellence as part of its strategy going ahead. Pernod Ricard is the world’s second largest wines and spirits company, with consolidated sales of €8,987million in financial year 2018.

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