Sales in lockdown at Pernod Ricard

The closure of bars and restaurants has resulted in a sharp decline in Pernod Ricard‘s sales, which fell by 13.3 % in the past quarter. Only in America sales grew slightly, mostly because the lockdown measures started later in the United States.

Closed bars, empty glasses

The coronavirus crisis is hitting French spirits producer Pernod Ricard hard: in the third quarter of its financial year, the group’s turnover fell by 13.3 % to 1.74 billion euros – compared to 2 billion euros for the same period last year. On an organic basis, sales even fell by 14.5 %.

Only in the Americas did the manufacturer achieve modest growth: from 567 million euros last year to 577 million euros in the past quarter. This is the result of the coronavirus’ later arrival across the Atlantic. In the European market, turnover decreased from 515 million euros last year to 475 million euros today, while in Asia and the rest of the world it even dropped from 922 million euros to 684 million euros.

Over the last nine months, revenue amounted to 7.21 billion euros, an organic decline of 2.1 %. For the full year, Pernod Ricard also fears a loss of one fifth of its profits. Nevertheless, the company is confident of its resilience: an interim dividend of 1.18 euro per share will still be paid on 10 July. The buyback of treasury shares – which was still planned for half a billion euros – has however been suspended.