Rémy Cointreau’s total sales declined by 18.0% on an organic basis to €984.6m in the year 2024/25, caused in part by reduced consumption of its spirits brands in the Americas.
The Americas region saw a decline of 20.2%, which reflected continued destocking in the first nine months of the year in a market “hit by slower consumption”, said Rémy Cointreau. Yet, this figure included a steep recovery in fourth-quarter sales.
Sales in the Asia-Pacific region were down 18.2%, impacted in particular by complex market conditions in China.
Lastly, the Europe, Middle East and Africa region reported a 13.8% decline in sales, reflecting mixed consumption trends, particularly for Rémy Cointreau’s cognac division.
In the fourth quarter, cognac division sales dropped by 32.8% on an organic basis. Excluding the market impact of duty-free disruptions and calendar events related to the Chinese New Year, the decline was 23.7%.
This decline was primarily driven by a strong drop in sales across the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China, influenced by a high basis of comparison from the previous year, the inaccessibility of duty-free from December and, to a lesser extent, the negative calendar impact of the Chinese New Year, said Rémy Cointreau.
Despite persistently challenging market conditions in China, Rémy Martin continued to gain market share and reported a slight increase in depletions over the new year period.
By contrast, sales of cognac rebounded sharply in the Americas, particularly the United States, in the fourth quarter. Growth was driven by a very favourable base of comparison and continued sequential improvement in volume depletions.
Lastly, the EMEA region reported a sharp decline in sales, reflecting the group’s decision to “optimise distribution inventory levels” in order to move into the 2025/26 fiscal year under the “best possible conditions”.
The liqueurs & spirits division, meanwhile, reported sales up 16.1% on an organic basis in the fourth quarter. The Americas, particularly the US, generated a “significant rise in sales”, driven by a favourable base comparison and the outperformance of Cointreau, St Rémy, Mount Gay and The Botanist.
Sales in the EMEA region saw a moderate decline, despite resilient underlying consumption in Europe. Meanwhile, the APAC region saw strong sales growth, led by the performance of Cointreau and Bruichladdich in China and Bruichladdich and Telmont in Japan.
Sales of parent brands declined by 29.7% on an organic basis in the fourth quarter.
The group said it had taken note of the provisional decision by China’s Ministry of Commerce to impose additional duties of 38.1% on cognac imports coming into China, starting 11 October 2024. If these duties are confirmed, it will trigger its action plan to mitigate the effects starting in the 2025/26 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Rémy Cointreau acknowledged that Donald Trump’s proposed plans would result in a minimum 10% tariff on all foreign goods, except those from China.
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