Drinks manufacturer Gruppo Campari has posted 5.7% organic growth in its first quarter, for the period to 31 March 2017.
Net sales for the period were €376.6 million – an increase of 15%, if acquisitions are taken into account.
Growth was driven by its high-margin Global Priority brands, which posted an increase of 10.8%, and its Regional Priority brands, which saw a 13.2% rise. The company also benefitted from a positive 2.7% exchange-rate effect, it said.
Strong Start
"We had a good start to 2017, delivering results in line with expectations in a low-seasonality quarter," commented Bob Kunze-Concewitz, chief executive.
"We achieved sustained overall growth in both organic and reported terms, across all performance indicators, thanks to a continuous improvement of our sales mix by brand and region. This good performance was delivered despite the late Easter and the expected phasing effects relating to accelerated investments in advertising and promotions, and new distribution capabilities."
Brand Performance
In terms of its biggest brands, the company said that Aperol continued to outperform, posting 17.7% growth, driven mainly by the core markets of Italy, Germany and Austria. Campari posted 3.1% growth, thanks to growth in the USA, Germany, France, Austria, Brazil and Jamaica, and 'only partially offset by shipment weakness in Italy and Argentina'.
Elsewhere, Wild Turkey saw 23.9% organic growth, while SKYY vodka was up by 0.2%.
The company also bolstered its advertising and marketing spend in the period by 14.5%, to €66.5 million.
Looking ahead to the coming year, Kunze-Concewitz added that the company's "outlook remains fairly balanced and unchanged. Macro and political environments remain uncertain in most developed markets, whilst challenges in emerging-market economies will persist."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
