Bottles of Remy Martin VSOP cognac, Remy Martin XO cognac and St-Remy XO Brandy are displayed at the Remy Cointreau SA headquarters in Paris, France, January 21, 2019. REUTERS
PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) – French spirits maker Remy Cointreau said on Thursday it remained confident in its ability to return to growth in the second half of its fiscal year 2025/26, after cost cuts helped first half operating profit fall less than feared, cushioning lower sales in the key U.S. and Chinese markets.
The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur reiterated full year sales and profit targets, after it cut its goals last month citing deteriorating market conditions in China and a weaker-than-expected rebound in U.S. sales.
Remy reported operating profit of 108.7 million euros ($126.11 million) for the first six months of the fiscal year 2025/26, which ends March 31.
This marked a like-for-like fall of 13.6%, which was not as steep as average expectations of an 18.1% decline in a company-compiled poll of 14 analysts.
It confirmed a previously reported 4.2% like-for-like sales drop for the first half, to 489.6 million euros.
Remy Cointreau reiterated it now expects organic sales growth for the full-year 2025/2026 to range between stable and low-single-digit.
It also expects an organic decline in annual current operating profit of between low-double-digit and mid-teens.
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, editing by Alessandro Parodi
