The owner of Aperol Spritz posted solid results in the first half of 2017 in the UK where strong sales of the orange-based liqueur boosted the bottom line.
Guppo Campari, known for its portfolio of Italian bitters and Jamaican rums saw strong H1 results overall in the UK, where sales rose by 39.5%.
This was driven mainly by Aperol and Campari, the group said, along with Wild Turkey, Bulldog, GlenGrant and various Jamaican rums.
The group, which also produces the Italian aperitif of the same name, has managed to revive sales of Campari recently after years of sales decline thanks largely to the resurgence of the Negroni cocktail, which also sometimes swaps Campari for Aperol.
This has paid off in Europe - which represented 18.6% of total group sales in H1 2017, - where sales increased by 12.6% overall and saw positive organic growth, up 20.4%.
Overall, CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz said the group had delivered “very good results in the first half of 2017, delivering sustained growth, both in organic and reported terms, across all performance indicators”.
However, in the first six months of 2017, rising advertising and promotional costs led the group’s operating margin to fall to 19.3% from 19.7% during the same period last year.
While advertising and promotional costs are due to slow in the second half of the year and operating margin is due to recover, Campari CFO Paolo Marchesini said operating margin will be flat this year compared with 2016.