Pernod Ricard posts stronger sales in quarter one on Chinese demand
Paris — Pernod Ricard posted a stronger than expected jump in first-quarter underlying sales, helped by accelerating Chinese demand for its high-margin Martell cognac and its Chivas whisky. Demand remained robust in the French group’s main US market, where sales of Jameson Irish whiskey continued to grow at a double-digit rate, while travel retail sales gathered pace, lifting its shares to record highs. Though the owner of Mumm champagne and Absolut vodka said some markets remained challenging, the company reiterated its forecast for a 3% to 5% rise in full-year profit from recurring operations after last year’s 3.3% growth. Pernod, the world’s second-biggest spirits group behind Britain’s Diageo, reported like-for-like sales up 5.7% to ¤2.29bn ($2.71bn) for the three months to September 30, compared with analyst expectations of 3.4% growth. Shares in the company rose 3.1% to ¤126 by 10.57am GMT, the leading gainer on the CAC 40 index of French blue chips, having touched a record hi...
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