Campari Group reports U.S. organic sales grew 4.4% driven by the double-digit growth of Espolòn, Aperol and Campari, as well as the positive trends of Wild Turkey, Grand Marnier and the Jamaican rums. This result helped offset the decline in Skyy, whose shipments continued to be affected by destocking, although the gap to the more favorable consumption trends is narrowing, the company said.
On a global basis, Campari Group reports organic sales grew 5.3% (reported down 2.4% after accounting for exchange rates “and perimeter effects”). Group global net profit rose 6.8%, the company said.
Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO, said that “over the past four years Campari Group has achieved 680 basis points of gross margin expansion on sales on a cumulative basis, as the combined result of very healthy organic expansion of 390 basis points, driven by favorable sales mix, and accretive M&A initiatives, including strategic divestments.
“This remarkable achievement has enabled strengthened investments in brand building and commercial initiatives for long-term, sustainable growth,” he said.
“Looking ahead into 2019, our outlook remains fairly balanced in terms of risks and opportunities as uncertainty around macroeconomic instability and currency volatility, particularly in emerging markets, remain,” the executive said, adding:
“We expect the current underlying business performance to keep its momentum, while we continue facing headwinds from agave purchase price hike. Nevertheless, we remain confident in achieving a positive performance across the key underlying business indicators in 2019, driven by the continued outperformance of the high-margin Global & Regional priority brands in key developed markets.’