UK retail lifts moribund global sales at Pernod Ricard

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 22 October, 2020

Drinks giant Pernod Ricard has seen its sales drop 6% in the first quarter of the financial year, though UK retail sales remain dynamic.

Sales at the Martell and Chivas maker fell to €2.2 million during the first quarter of the financial year 2021, as the company suffered “significant declines” in travel retail and a partially reopened on-trade.

Off-trade channels however remain “very resilient” in the USA and Europe.

This was down in part to “staycation” trends over the summer, the company said, with continued “strong dynamism” in the UK and Germany.

By contrast things were almost stable in France, while the company saw declines in Spain and Russia.

“Our first quarter is encouraging,” chairman and chief executive Alexandre Ricard said. “Sales were still in decline, but the business has recovered significantly versus Q4 FY20, thanks to the partial reopening of the on-trade and the strong resilience of our brands in the off-trade.

“For FY21, we expect continued resilience of our business in an uncertain and disrupted environment.

Pernod Ricard also saw strong growth of its core wine brands over the quarter.

Sales were up 9%, driven by double-digit growth of Campo Viejo and Brancott Estate.

Jacob’s Creek also benefitted from an uplift of 8%.

This is in contrast to many of the company’s spirit brands, including Martell, Chivas and Ballantine’s, which dropped 10% as a whole, mostly due to the losses in travel retail.

Strong growth registered for Malibu and The Glenlivet however, with Jameson Irish whiskey also proving resilient for the company.

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