By Scott Wright
Pernod Ricard has highlighted the performance of Scotch whisky brands Ballantine’s and The Glenlivet as the drinks giant reported a 20 per cent rise in third-quarter sales to nearly €2.5 billion, underpinned by growth in key markets.
But the company, which owns Scotch whisky business Chivas Brothers, warned of “softer” sales in the fourth quarter because of Covid disruption in China, war in Ukraine and “phasing normalisation” in the US.
Paris-based Pernod said sales totalled €8.4bn for the first nine months, up 18 per cent. That came amid growth of 13% in the US, 19% in India and 12% in China, which it said followed a softer Chinese New Year that had been impacted by Covid and a high comparison basis.
The company also noted “excellent growth” in Europe, though highlighted “some deceleration” in March following the beginning of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Sales in travel retail outlets climbed by 33% on the back of increasing passenger traffic in airports, excluding China.
Alexandre Ricard, chairman and chief executive of Pernod Ricard, said: “Our Q3 was very strong and continues the broad-based performance we enjoyed in the first half, with all our regions and must-win markets showing very strong growth.
“The global environment remains volatile with an increasingly challenging and inflationary context.
“We expect a softer Q4 impacted by Covid disruptions in China, phasing normalization in the US and conflict in Ukraine. Overall we expect for FY22 a strong diversified sales momentum across the regions due to on-trade rebound, off-trade resilience and a continuing recovery in travel retail. We are increasing investments to fuel growth momentum.”
“Accordingly we are providing full year guidance for FY22 of an organic growth in profit from recurring operations of c. +17% with some operating margin expansion.”
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