- Sales in financial fourth quarter – to end of March – decline 0.7% to EUR237.5m (US$254.5m)
- For fiscal 2024, top-line down 19.2% at EUR1.19bn
- Twelve-month cognac sales decline 25.1%, jumping 15.4% in Q4
A near-1% top-line slip in the three months to the end of March represented a marked improvement for the brand owner on the 22.7% year-to-date decline announced in January. Subsequently, the -19.2% sales showing for fiscal 2024 was within Rémy Cointreau’s previously-forecast -15%-to–20% bracket.
Having seen its Rémy Martin cognac brand take a battering during calendar 2023, the company saw its cognac operations bounce back strongly in the fiscal fourth quarter, climbing 15.4% in sales terms on the corresponding period a year earlier. However, the ‘liqueurs & spirits’ reporting division, which includes the Cointreau and Bruichladdich brands, was down markedly in Q4, by 27%.
Rémy Cointreau noted in its results announcement that for liqueurs & spirits, it had “deliberately opted to complete most of its shipments in the [financial] third quarter”, when the division was up by 4.3%.
Returning to cognac’s performance and the company flagged a “significant increase” for Rémy Martin in China in the first three months of calendar 2024 but noted an “intensely promotional market” for the wider category in the US. Also of concern were the US’s negative phasing effects in the quarter not only for cognac but the company’s total portfolio.
The ongoing situation for cognac in the US justifies the group’s decision late last year to intensify its marketing of the lower-priced (compared to the rest of the Rémy Martin portfolio) VSOP expression.
The latest figures mark the worst full-year performance from Rémy Cointreau’s cognac business since the 12 months to the end of March 2021, a period when the pandemic was at its peak. Despite this, the relative recovery in fiscal Q4 sets the company on a more even keel heading into its current financial year.
