- Sales from three months to end of March – fiscal Q3 – flat (+0.1%) at EUR1.94bn (US$2.29bn)
- For year to date, sales decline by 4.4% to EUR7.20bn (US$8.49bn)
- Full-year top-line performance expected to come in down by between 3% and 4%
Pernod Ricard has delivered on February’s promise of sales improvement as its financial year develops, although the latest quarterly sales have come in flat on the year prior.
The group, which forecast “improving trends” earlier this year, has booked three-month sales to the end of March of +0.1%. Following a bleak first half of fiscal 2026, which saw six-month sales decline by 5.9%, Pernod Ricard’s year-to-date sits at 4.4% down on the corresponding nine-month period in fiscal 2025.
While noting the “as-expected … sequential improvement” in sales, thanks to a 4% lift in quarterly volumes, the company noted that its three-month sales would have been positive were it not for the US and China, where sales fell by 12% and 7%, respectively.
The weakness in the US has prevailed throughout the year-to-date – nine-month sales from the market sit at -14% – but China delivered a better showing in Q3 (although the country’s YTD sales slumped by 24%), thanks in part to the “phasing of Chinese New Year”, which was almost three weeks later in 2026 than in 2025.
Earlier this month, Global Drinks Intel revealed exclusively that Pernod Ricard has parachuted the current head of its Northern Europe region into China on a secondment basis.
On the brands front, scotch whiskies Ballantine’s and Royal Salute, and the Malibu rum-based liqueur, earned namechecks for posting “strong growth” in the quarter, while champagne mark Perrier-Jouët “continues its stellar performance” in the nine months.
Pernod Ricard’s RTD portfolio, meanwhile, soared by a collective 26% in Q3 – +16% in the year-to-date.
“In a context that remains volatile and uncertain, we continue to see fiscal 2026 as a transition year with improving trends in H2,” the company said today (16 April). “Given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we now expect organic net sales to decline by 3% to 4% for the full year.”
