The Rémy Cointreau spirits group has also been affected by the pandemic. Over one year, the group saw its profit drop by almost 30%.
Despite the poor figures, the Rémy Cointreau spirits group remains confident.
AFP / illustration photo
The spirits group Rémy Cointreau showed a 28.8% drop in its net profit for its financial year 2019/2020, to 113.4 million euros (122.2 million francs), penalized in particular by the epidemic Covid-19 and exceptional items, but are confident for the current quarter.
“The year 2019/2020 has combined the effects of a global pandemic having severely limited the consumption of spirits (…), threats of import taxes in the United States, a certain global geopolitical instability”, justified l French company in a press release issued Thursday.
“The consequences of group-specific decisions, such as changes in distribution networks in Europe and the withdrawal of certain distribution contracts from partner brands,” also explain the financial results of an “atypical” year, she said.
Quarter “largely penalized by the pandemic”
The annual turnover, already published, shows a decrease of 9% (to 1.02 billion euros), while, on the profitability side, its current operating profit fell by 18.6% to 215.1 millions of euros.
“Structural costs” as well as “the pursuit of strategic investments in communication” weighed on the group’s profitability, explains Rémy Cointreau.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, investors welcomed these results, however: the group’s title rose 6.53% to 119.10 euros, around 9:25 a.m., in a market in slight decline.
In detail, the cognac house Rémy Martin has undergone changes in its distribution network in Europe and a reduction in inventory levels at retailers in the United States.
Activity fell by 5% to 735.5 million euros (in published data), masking a “new year of very strong growth” in mainland China, despite a 4th quarter “largely penalized by the pandemic” linked to coronavirus, notes the group.
Sales of liquors and spirits fell slightly by 1% (to 261.9 million euros), while those of partner brands tumbled 68.5% to 27.5 million due to the end of “d ‘important contracts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States’.
Despite a climate of uncertainty, the group has shown confidence in its prospects for the coming weeks, even going so far as to slightly raise its turnover target for its first quarter 2020/2021 (April to June).
He now expects sales down 45% organically, against a range between -50% and -55% in his latest projections.
((ATS / NXP)
Posted today at 10:09 am-
