Rémy Cointreau has reported +5.5% year-on-year organic sales growth in the first nine months of its 2017/18 financial year (April-December 2017), to €862.1 million.
Moodie Davitt snapshot: Rémy Cointreau sales results 9M 2017/18 – Organic sales growth of +5.5% in the first nine months – Q3 sales slow to +3.2% due to Chinese New Year timing – Travel retail a strong contributor – Double-digit growth in Asia Pacific travel retail – Americas travel retail sales also strong – But EMEA travel retail sales down due to end of Champagne distribution – Current operating profit growth guidance for financial year 2017/18 maintained Source: The Moodie Davitt Report |
Sales growth slowed to +3.2% in the third quarter. The company attributed this to the later timing of the Chinese New Year and a high year-ago comparison basis.
Adjusted for this one-off effect, organic growth for the quarter would have been around +6%, the company noted.
Overall performance in the first nine months was driven by the Group Brands (+7.1% in organic terms), in particular by the House of Rémy Martin (+11.5%, to €576.6 million).
Liqueurs & Spirits (-3.8%, to €204.2 million) and Partner Brands (-8.5%, to €81.3 million) were negatively impacted by the deconsolidation of Passoã and the end of the distribution agreement for the Champagne brands respectively.
The drinks maker said global travel retail contributed strongly to its overall sales momentum. Rebounding trends were confirmed in the first nine months, led by Chinese and Russian travellers.
Rémy Cointreau reported double-digit sales growth in Asia Pacific travel retail in the first nine months. The strong performance was attributed to robust passenger traffic and improved value per basket.
There was also a “solid” performance in Americas travel retail, with the company noting the positive impact of its VSOP and XO relaunches, new listings and better traffic.
In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) travel retail sales declined due to the end of the distribution contract for Champagne brands. The group’s own brands experienced solid growth however, led by Cognac QSS, Metaxa and The Botanist.
Rémy Cointreau said overall sales in the first nine months were fully in line with the Group’s forecasts. It therefore confirmed its guidance of growth in current operating profit over the financial year 2017/18, assuming constant exchange rates and consolidation scope.