Pernod Ricard reports strong sales in first-quarter

Pernod Ricard SA said Thursday that sales rose strongly in the first quarter of its fiscal year, with dynamic performance in both on-trade and off-trade and across geographies.

The group's largest geographic division, Asia Rest of World, recorded the strongest organic increase of 23%, but the Americas and Europe also recorded double-digit increases. Off-trade sales to hospitality businesses continued to recover in the quarter, while off-trade sales to supermarkets remained resilient, the maker of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey said. Analysts had expected strong organic growth given an easy comparative with the previous-year period, when sales dipped 6% amid continued pandemic-related squeezes on travel retail. The category remains soft comparative, Pernod Ricard noted, but benefited from the subdued comparative. The company expects to see continued sales growth for the rest of fiscal 2022, though at a slower pace than in the first quarter, Chief Executive Alexandre Ricard said.