By Joshua Kirby
Remy Cointreau SA said Thursday that earnings doubled in the first half of the year thanks to price effects and good cost control, and raised its qualitative guidance for the full fiscal year.
The French drinks group booked a current operating profit of 212.9 million euros ($238.5 million) in the six months to Sept. 30, twice that of the same period last year. Net profit came to EUR134 million, more than doubling on the year.
With sales increasing 52% in the half-year, as reported last month, Remy’s current operating margin rose by 8.3 percentage points to 33%, an all-time high for the group. This was achieved through control of overheads and good pricing effects, Remy said, highlighting better contribution from mid-range cognac brands like Remy Martin Club in China.
Looking ahead, Remy said it is now targeting “very strong” organic growth in fiscal 2022 current operating profit, from “strong” growth previously, thanks to the better-than-expected first-half results. Second-half earnings will be dragged by higher spending on marketing and communication and by inventory management in the year’s final quarter, the company warned.
Remy didn’t set out numerical earnings guidance for the full year.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
