- Three-month sales to end of March come in flat – +0.2% – at EUR663.5m (US$714.6m)
- Asia Pacific tumbles 20.2% while US sales stay static (-0.4%)
- Espolòn tequila leads value growth figures at +13.2% with Grand Marnier, Aperol and Campari up between 6.3% and 7.9%
While describing the year-on-year showing as “resilient”, the brand owner also flagged a high comparison base – the same quarter last year leapt by almost 20% – driven primarily by a temporary phasing effect ahead of planned price increases later in 2023. Fantacchiotti, who took over as CEO from Bob Kunze-Concewitz last month, said that he remains “confident about continued growth momentum” in the “medium term”.
While 2023’s 10.5% sales rise pushed Campari Group ahead of its pure-play spirits peers, today’s announcement brings the company into parity with the likes of Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau, both of whom recorded flat top lines from the same three-month period.
The headline on a regional basis came from Asia Pacific, specifically Australia, where “a difficult macro environment, competitive off-premise trends and pressure in brown-spirit ready to drink” resulted in an 18.5% sales slide. The reporting region was also hampered by the impact of pending changes to Campari Group’s route-to-market in China and India, resulting in a decline of 20% overall.
Elsewhere, the US dipped by 0.4%, again on the previously-mentioned tough comparable, with the Espolòn, Aperol and Grand Marnier brands offsetting negative showings from Wild Turkey and brand Campari. ‘EMEA’, meanwhile, was up 2.2% thanks to a double-digit lift in Germany and a sales increase of 4.5% in France.
Outpacing the year-prior’s one-off benefit, flagship apéritif Aperol was up by 6.3%, although the brand was overshadowed by Espolòn tequila, which had a double-digit jump in the US and accelerations in “seeding markets” to thank for its +13.2%, and the Grand Marnier liqueur portfolio, which climbed by 7.9%. American whisky Wild Turkey, however, was down more broadly (-10.3%) due to poor volumes in Australia as well as domestically.
‘We entered the year yet again with momentum and a resilient performance in a low season quarter and despite the expected tough comparison base,” said Fantacchiotti. “With normalising industry consumption patterns and [a] volatile macro environment, we expect continued industry outperformance thanks to our healthy brands playing in growing categories, particularly in aperitifs and tequila.”
Also in today’s results, the group noted the closure of its purchase of Courvoisier from Suntory Global Spirits, which was initially announced late last year.
