Pernod Ricard hailed strong sales of The Glenlivet and Ballantine's Scotch whisky for helping drive it to first half sales of €5,474 million.
The drinks giant reported organic growth of +2.7% with US sales up 4% thanks largely to whisky and speciality spirits.
However, the French group warned that the coronavirus outbreak and resulting shutdown of Chinese clubs and bars would impact heavily on its third-quarter results.
Alexandre Ricard, chairman and CEO, said: “H1 FY20 demonstrated solid growth and resilience of our business model. Our three year plan Transform & Accelerate is driving success, as evidenced by the diversification of the sources of growth in terms of geographic footprint and categories, continued strong pricing and ultimately the improvement in operating leverage. Looking to H2 FY20, the environment remains particularly uncertain from a geopolitical standpoint, with the additional pressure related to the COVID-19 outbreak."
