Remy Cointreau (RCOP.PA) said it was confident over prospects for its current financial year. This was after first-quarter sales beat expectations and cognac sales strongly recovered in the key Chinese market in June.
The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur said its China business saw a double-digit sales rebound last month. Having suffered from COVID lockdowns in April-May, and also benefited from strong demand in Europe and the United States.
The group said its current financial year through March 2023 would be another year of strong sales growth and improvement in its current operating margin, as price increases and strict cost controls would mitigate inflationary pressures.
Finance Chief Luca Marotta told analysts the market consensus for this fiscal year – for organic or self-generated sales growth of 11.2% and operating profit growth of 13.8% – was “fair”. For the second quarter alone, Remy Cointreau expected another quarter of double-digit sales growth at group level, he said.
Sales in China were affected by strict lockdown measures until May. But, business was boost by a double-digit resumption in sales in June and excellent growth in e-commerce.
For the full year Remy forecast a positive currency effect with reported sales now seen at between 90 million euros and 100 million. Compared with 70-80 million previously, and current operating profit at 50-60 million compared with 30-40 million.