Pernod Ricard will report results for its fiscal third quarter and full year tomorrow (31 August). Here, just-drinks brings you highlights of the company’s news in the three months to the end of June.
- The quarter started with a financial boost for Pernod when, in early-April, it sold its 1% stake in Japan’s Suntory Holdings. The company garnered US$55.3m from the divestment to Suntory. The Japanese firm will continue to handle the distribution of some of Pernod’s brands in the country despite the sale.
- Also in April, Pernod made a big noise about its relaunch of two variants from its Irish whiskey portfolio. Pressure from the US Alcohol & Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to change the terminology of ‘pure pot still’ Irish whiskey to ‘single pot still’ Irish whiskey gave Pernod the idea to relaunch Green Spot and Redbreast globally.
- Staying in Ireland, in May, Pernod announced plans to double the capacity at its huge Irish whiskey distillery in Midleton in the country. An investment of EUR100m (US$145m) has been lined up for the move, which will see the facility up its production to just over 60m litres of alcohol per year, compared to the current 33m-litre maximum, within the next two years.
- Over in India, reports in May suggested that Pernod’s country CEO, Param Uberoi, was to step down from the role. Mohit Lal, previously CFO at Pernod’s Irish Distillers business, was rumoured to be replacing Uberoi, who was reported to be set to continue as chairman at Pernod Ricard South Asia.
- just-drinks took a closer look at Pernod’s Absolut brand in June. The vodka appears to be bouncing back in the US, after a tough time of late. Figures from Pernod have showed that, for the 12 months to March, Absolut volume sales hit 11m nine-litre cases worldwide – the first time that sales have topped the 10.9m-case record set in the 12 months to the end of March 2008, when the brand was owned by Sweden’s Vin & Sprit.
- Also, in June, Pernod said it is looking at future opportunities in Africa, where the firm is considering tie-ups with local companies to better compete with Diageo. “It’s something we are considering at the moment,” said Pernod’s chairman and CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Laurent Lacassagne. “Our main competitor has developed a spirits network a couple of years ago on the back of a very successful beer business.”. Lacassagne added, however, that “it is too early to say what we’ll do”.
- Finally, and to book-end the quarter, Pernod sold another company at the end of June. This time, it divested all of its shares in Georgian Wine & Spirits, which owns wine brands Old Tbilisi and Tamada, to local company JSC Marussia. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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