Spirits firm Rémy Cointreau has seen “resilient” drinks consumption during the lockdown in the UK and US help it to achieve higher than expected first quarter sales.
The company behind Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur was hit by the coronavirus crisis in the three months to June 30, with restaurants, bars and hotels that stock its products closed in numerous markets.
It also pointed to a slump in global air traffic impacting the business.
Sales in the first quarter fell 32.8% to €150.1 million (£135.41 million), but that was better than expected.
The company said sales at the ‘house of Cointreau’ were up slightly over the period, on an organic basis, “thanks to remarkable growth in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, where consumption of cocktails at home made up for the closure of the on-trade channel”.
Rémy Cointreau now expects operating profit to be down 35-40% in the first half of the financial year 2020/21, compared with previous expectations of a 45-50% decline.
