Italian spirits group Campari said its third quarter like-for-like sales rose by 4.4% at constant exchange rates, below analyst expectations.
Spirits makers have seen a slowdown in demand in recent months especially in the critical US market, as sales have returned to more normal levels after a post-COVID surge when people drank at home.
What the company referred to as poor weather in Europe, which has ranged between extreme heat and flooding this year, was also a factor behind sales at €744 million ($784.70 million) for the quarter, Campari said.
A company-provided consensus cited by analysts expected organic revenues in the three months to grow by about 8.4%.
Outlook
The Aperol maker confirmed the group's full year guidance of a flat organic margin for EBIT-adjusted earnings, as the adjusted operating profit declined to €161 million, hit by a negative currency effect.
"In the medium term, we remain confident to continue delivering strong organic topline and margin expansion leveraging mix improvement as well as input cost inflation easing", chief executive Bob Kunze-Concewitz said in a statement.
Kunze-Concewitz is expected to step down next April after in September the company said he had decided to retire.
Campari's shares were down 11.3% at 10:05 GMT. A Milan-based trader said that quarterly sales missed the estimates and that the margins outlook was confirmed when some had expected it to be raised.
In August, Campari's controlling shareholder Lagfin increased its voting rights to 84% from 68.6% under a special voting mechanism approved in 2020.
Under the scheme, shareholders with an uninterrupted holding period of at least five years can increase voting rights from two to three votes.
