High resistance of the Pernod Ricard specialist brands

The second-largest producer of Scotch whisky in the world, Pernod Ricard, has released a new forecast of the results after improving sales in the first quarter. The owner of the Scotch whisky brands Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet points to the increase in consumption in Europe and the USA during the pandemic, as well as the improvement in sales in China. Pernod Ricard expects sales to return to an uptrend already in the second half of the fiscal year, although disruptions caused by the pandemic will continue to affect some operations.

The group has been hit hard by the closure of bars and restaurants in most key markets due to the pandemic, as well as by the weak retail sales in the tourism segment. The group's strategic international brands saw sales drop by 10 percent in the first quarter, with "significant" drops for standard brands such as Chivas and Ballantine's.

At the same time, the French company recorded a 30% increase in the segment of specialist brands such as The Glenlivet and Aberlour. These results confirm the opinion of many industry experts that exclusive premium brands will feel the effects of the COVID-19 crisis much less.

- Our first quarter is encouraging. Sales were still in decline, but the business has recovered significantly versus [the previous quarter], thanks to the partial reopening of the on-trade and the strong resilience of our brands in the off-trade, said Alexandre Ricard, president and CEO of Pernod Ricard. - For [the current financial year], we expect continued resilience of our business in an uncertain and disrupted environment. We anticipate a prolonged downturn in travel retail but resilience of the off-trade in the US and Europe and sequential improvement in China, India and the on-trade globally. Thanks to our solid fundamentals, our teams and our brand portfolio, I am confident that Pernod will emerge from this crisis stronger.”

Source: www.scotsman.com