- Three-month sales to end of June – fiscal Q1 – increase 5.7% to EUR220.8m (US$259.7m)
- Cognac sales up 1.3%, ‘liqueurs & spirits’ jump 17.3%
- Forecast for financial full year retained at mid-single-digit top-line increase
Rémy Cointreau has the ‘Americas’ region to thank, as quarterly sales returned to the positive after two years in the red.
The brand owner, which noted a “sharply” rebounding US market three months ago, saw the country deliver similarly in the quarter to the end of June. While noting the low base-comparison from the year-prior period, Rémy Cointreau will be buoyed today by fiscal Q1’s near-6% sales increase versus the corresponding three months in 2024.
The rise was driven by the company’s ‘liqueurs & spirits’ operations, which include the likes of Cointreau, Bruichladdich and Metaxa; combined, the non-cognac brands in the portfolio delivered a sales jump of 17.3%.
Over in the cognac stable, led by the Rémy Martin mark, sales scraped an increase, of +1.3%, thanks primarily to the weak comparison. While cognac sales in the ‘Americas’ reporting region jumped by “very strong double digits”, key market the US, although booking an unspecified “steep rise” in sales, was down in value depletions (volumes) terms. Meanwhile, in China – where cognac has come under fire in a broader political row recently – the company slipped in value sales terms, by low single digits.
In geographical terms, the ‘Americas’ was balanced out by Asia Pacific and EMEA, which declined by “low to mid-single digit” and a high single digit, respectively.
Looking to the short term, Rémy Cointreau said it expects its financial second half – October to March 2026 – to see growth return, suggesting a tough Q2 (July to September). For the full 12-month period, the forecast of a mid-single-digit rise remains.
The presentation of the figures today (25 July) was led by CFO Luca Marotta; group CEO Franck Marilly started in his new role a month ago.
Three weeks ago, Marilly’s predecessor, Eric Vallat, signed off with the admission that the company “may have made mistakes” in the years after the worst of the Covid pandemic. Vallat also flagged an over-exposure not only to cognac but also to the US and Chinese markets.
