American drinks company Brown-Forman has reported that net sales increased by 10%, to $1.64 billion, in the first half of its 2018 financial year.
The group, which manufactures spirits such as Jack Daniel’s and Canadian Mist, reports that underlying operating income grew by 14% during the period, helped by the timing of operating expenses.
“Brown-Forman’s second-quarter and first-half results were excellent on both a reported and underlying basis,” said Paul Varga, company chief executive.
“Against a backdrop of improving economies in the emerging markets, and continued momentum in our categories of focus, our underlying net sales have accelerated nicely due to strong performances from our Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester and Herradura brand families,” Varga continued.
Half-Year Performance
Brown-Forman says that its emerging-markets unit delivered strong results in the first six months of its financial year, with underlying net sales up by 15%.
Meanwhile, developed markets saw underlying net-sales growth of 5%, with 6% growth in the US.
In terms of brand performance, the Jack Daniel’s family of beverages experienced underlying sales growth of 7%, while Woodford Reserve whiskey went up by 21% and Herradura tequila went up by 19%.
Outlook
Following these positive results, Brown-Forman has increased its outlook for underlying net-sales growth to 6-7%, underlying operating-income growth to 8-9%, and full-year 2018 earnings per share to between $1.90 and $1.98.
“We believe that an ever-improving combination of investment, resource allocation, revenue management, innovation, and geographic expansion are important contributors to our acceleration in fiscal 2018,” added Varga.
The company has also made a number of executive appointments this quarter.
Lawson Whiting was appointed as the group's new chief operating officer, effective 1 October, while Jeremy Shepherd was named as the new country manager for the UK, and is set to assume the position in January.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
