PARIS (Reuters) – French spirits group Rémy Cointreau reported on Friday an organic decline of 6% in third-quarter sales, slightly less than expected, strong shipments to China at the approach of the Lunar New Year having partially offset the decline in cognac consumption in the United States.
Rémy Cointreau’s turnover for the third quarter reached 414.3 million euros. Analysts had expected a 6.7% drop on a like-for-like basis, according to a consensus provided by the company.
Sales of its Cognac division fell 11% in the quarter, hurt by a slowdown in the United States, although the group’s Chinese market continued to rebound.
“In a market disrupted by a wave of contamination unprecedented in its scale, the group managed to generate strong growth in its sales ahead of the Chinese New Year and in view of a restart of activity”, indicated the company in its press release.
The maker of Rémy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur also still expects strong organic growth for its 2022-23 financial year ending March 31.
“(…) the level of overall consumption should normalize over the next few quarters, particularly in the United States, at a level that will remain much higher than that which prevailed in 2019/20,” the company said in a press release.
On Thursday, Diageo reported North American sales below expectations, despite better-than-expected group-level results amid rising prices and consumption of premium alcohol.
(Report Dagmarah Mackos; French version Kate Entringer and Lina Golovnya, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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