Campari has reported on the first half of its financial year, with solid global growth of 5.4 per cent, although this has been impacted by exchange rates and “perimeter effects”.
It was also a strong result for the group in Australia where there was 10.7 per cent organic growth, with the country now representing 4.8 per cent of total Campari sales.
In detailing its Australian performance, Campari said: “The brands outperformed the spirit market in all key categories. In particular, Wild Turkey ready-to-drink, Wild Turkey bourbon, Aperol, Skyy, Frangelico, Campari and GlenGrant showed double-digit growth.
“The region’s other markets (2.2 per cent of total Group sales) were up organically by +24.1 per cent, driven by the positive performance of Japan, thanks to Wild Turkey bourbon, SKYY ready-to-drink, SKYY, Grand Marnier and Cinzano. New Zealand showed a double-digit growth, while China was broadly flat.”
Speaking about the overall result, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, Chief Executive Officer, said: “In the first half 2018 we achieved a solid organic growth, reflecting an accelerated topline growth in the second quarter, broadly recovering the first quarter phasing issues, as well as a normalisation of trends across profit indicators.
“The favourable sales mix continued to benefit from the outperformance of the key high-margin combinations of global and regional brands, driving organic growth across profit indicators and margin expansion. Concomitantly, on a reported basis, the overall growth rates were impacted by the adverse forex effect as well as the divestments of non-core businesses.
“Looking into the second half of the year, our outlook remains broadly balanced in terms of risks and opportunities. We remain confident in achieving a positive performance across key underlying business indicators, driven by the continued positive development of the key high-margin combinations by brand and market.”
The Australian result provides a solid starting point for Simon Durrant, the new Managing Director Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Islands, who started last month.
Durrant has brought a wealth of experience to the role having held senior sales and national business management positions at a number of companies, including Diageo and Accolade Wines.
At the time of his appointment, Campari’s Managing Director APAC, Franco Peroni, said: “Simon has rich experience in aligning organisations to strategic growth agendas, creating incremental value from the customer base and in creating a sustainable competitive advantage. He is recognised for making a positive impact on culture, leadership teams and business results and we look forward to him joining Campari Australia’s executive team.”
