Campar Group reports net sales in the third quarter rose 12.9% from a year earlier to 513.8 Euros and profit before tax rose 13% to 109..3 million Euros. It attributed the sales surge to people staying home in the face of the Covid pandemic.
But CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz sounded a cautionary note, warning “with the resurgence of the pandemic in many areas of the world towards the end of the third quarter, the overall scenario in the short-term remains highly uncertain.”
“Moreover, shipments in the US are expected to continue to be affected by the ongoing destocking activities at wholesaler level, as opposed to very positive sell-out trends.”
Most of Campari’s report dealt with the first nine months. Sales in the Americas (43.1% of total Group sales) were down organically by -3.6%.
The Group’s largest market, the US, showed a flattish performance affected by the ongoing destocking at wholesaler level. Positive performance in the third quarter (+8.9%) was largely driven by the solid performance of Espolòn and the Jamaican rums thanks to strong category momentum, coupled with a favorable comparison base.
Depletions continued to grow above shipments (+13.4% in the third quarter) and brand momentum in the off-premise continues to be strong across the whole portfolio: sell-out at +30.8% overall, outperforming the local market (up +20.4%) since the lockdown.
Jamaica registered an overall decline of -7.6% due to on-premise closures and reduced tourism flows, amplified by a tough comparison base. Canada grew by +11.1%.
In South America, Brazil was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic showing a negative performance across the portfolio (-11.4%).