Pernod Ricard forecasts return to growth in 2025 following wine sale

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 29 August, 2024

Spirits giant Pernod Ricard has forecasted that its sales will grow again next year after suffering a post-pandemic slump.

According to its annual results released this morning, the Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey maker experienced a 9% and 10% decline in net sales for two of its key markets (the US and China respectively) in the fiscal year to 30 June.

Full-year sales were also down, declining 1% organically to €11.6bn (£9.8bn) largely in line with forecasts and Pernod's own guidance.

Read more: Naked’s losses widen as group seeks return to growth

Despite the challenges, chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard praised “robust results within an environment of economic and geopolitical uncertainty and spirits market normalisation after two years of exceptional post-pandemic growth.

“Our global scale, our agility and our portfolio of brands, the most extensive in the industry, combined with our capacity to understand and to invest behind our consumers’ desires and aspirations puts us in a very strong position to navigate these challenges.”

The results follow a turbulent couple of years for the French company, which officially signed over the majority of its wine brands to Australian Wine Holdco (AWL), the consortium which owns Accolade, back in July.

The deal had been much discussed in the run-up, with Pernod selling many of its key wine brands such as Jacob’s Creek, Stoneleigh and Campo Viejo in order to focus on its spirits portfolio.

Pernod now expects a ‘soft’ first quarter of 2025, with further inventory adjustments to be made in the US as retailers and wholesalers there continue to cut back on pricier spirits. It also expects a ‘very weak macro context in China’ as the country continues to face a troubled economy, but ‘a good performance in the rest of the world’.

Today’s results also noted ‘continuing active portfolio management’ in the past fiscal year, including the disposal of its strategic wine brands, which is expected to close in the second half of FY25.

“I’d like to thank our teams for their responsiveness and relentless commitment to drive Pernod Ricard’s long-term sustainable and profitable growth roadmap,” Ricard concluded.

Printer friendly version