Another year of falling sales for Pernod Ricard as full-year results released

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 27 August, 2026

Pernod Ricard's FY26 report has revealed that its organic net sales fell by 3.9% over the past financial year, with organic profit also dropping by 5.2% in a worse than expected period for the drinks giant.

However, it emphasised that H2 was a marked improvement over the first six months of the year, with organic sales growth improving from a decline of 5.9% in the latter, to a decline of 1.3% in the former. This is despite the impact of conflict in the Middle East, which hit sales in Q4.

The US (with organic net sales down 14%) and China (down 19%) continued to drive these declining sales, with overall organic net sales actually rising by 0.5% when excluding these markets.

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The company said that softness in the US was amplified by ‘inventory adjustments’ – most likely an impact of US tariffs on goods exported from the EU and UK – and said that it had demonstrated ‘rapid adaption’ to market conditions.

While the company has faced weak demand in China, this is not specific to Pernod Ricard – the Communist Party of China has announced plans to increase household consumption as a proportion of GDP ‘significantly’ as part of its 2026-2030 5-year-plan.

As Harpers has previously reported, difficulties in China are also in part due to the Chinese government responding to EU tariffs on electric vehicles by placing a 34.9% tariff on EU brandy in July 2025 – with major producers like Pernod only exempted if they sell into the country at a minimum price.

Europe was also an area of weakness, with sales declining 3% amid drops in France, Spain and Germany.

Sales in the UK also fell slightly, although Jameson, Absolut and Pernod’s champagnes saw growth in a market it called ‘improving’.

Overall, Asia/ROW was flat, with growth in India of 7% and strong momentum from underlying consumer demand. Pernod also flagged the India-UK trade agreement as a positive factor.

Organic net sales for global travel retail also fell by 3%, although the business has seen positive signs there, with international passenger traffic up 10% on pre-COVID numbers.

Pernod Ricard said that it expected a broadly stable year for FY27 with China expected to improve and continued strong growth expected from India in particular.

Despite another year of declines, over FY27 to FY29 the company is projecting organic net sales growth at the lower end of a 3-6% increase.

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