Pernod Ricard: Sales fall amid tariff and travel retail woes
French drinks giant Pernod Ricard has announced its results for the 2025 financial year. Amid a suite of macroeconomic challenges, the multinational saw an overall -3% drop in organic global sales.
Sales in the USA saw a -6% drop in part due to prolonged uncertainty caused by the US Government’s tariff spree earlier this year. Dampened consumer confidence as well as increased economic moderation were also touted as factors in causing the performance dip. The overall sales fall in the Americas region was a less sharp (-3%) due to good performance in the Canadian and Brazilian markets.
Chinese sales saw a precipitous -21% slide amid challenges wrought by Chinese tariffs on EU-produced brandy. The levies were introduced in October 2024 in a tit-for-tat exchange following the EU’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese-produced electric vehicles. Last month China exempted three major brandy EU producers including Pernod Ricard from the tariffs. The impact of the trade debacle was still felt on the company’s year-end balance sheet despite the recent changes, however.
The overall Asia region saw a less sharp drop of -4%. Strong performance in India (+6%) helped softened the regional impact of Chinese sales struggles. Double-digit growth was seen amongst some of Pernod Ricard’s major brands, including Jameson whiskey in India. There is concern, however, surrounding excise policy changes in the 130-million-person state of Maharashtra, with Q1 sales in India this year expected to take a hit.
Pernod’s global travel retail performance was also impacted by Chinese tariffs seeing a -13% decline. The suspension of the sale of Cognac in Chinese duty free from December 2024 onwards (Pernod Ricard sales will resume here from Q2 2026 onwards), as well as declines in the South Korean and Taiwanese markets have impacted performance in the subsector.
The European market saw a -2% slide in sales with growth seen in France but declines in other major markets including Spain and Germany.
Looking ahead, Pernod Ricard expects a challenging start to the first quarter of the 2026 financial year with an initial decline in this period expected.
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