Remy Cointreau said its group sales moved back into growth in the third quarter of fiscal 2025/26, beating analysts' expectations as recovery in the U.S. market helped balance weakness elsewhere.
The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur reported organic sales of 245.8 million euros in the quarter, a 2.8% increase from the prior period. That result outpaced a company-compiled analyst consensus that had pointed to a 1.7% rise. Sales of cognac, which account for roughly 70% of the group's revenue and are concentrated in the United States and China, rose 3.2% to 150.2 million euros in the quarter - ahead of the 1.4% gain expected by analysts.
Management said the U.S. market showed an improvement that supported the group's return to growth. That progress helped to offset a softer performance in China, where demand for high-end spirits remains challenging and where the quarter was further affected by a negative calendar impact linked to the late timing of the Chinese New Year.
Remy Cointreau has acknowledged pressure across the broader spirits sector since the end of the pandemic-driven sales boom, a situation compounded more recently by tariffs on cognac imports into China and tariffs on EU goods entering the United States. The firm's concentration in cognac leaves it relatively more exposed to such tariffs and to economic cycles in its main markets compared with more diversified competitors.
Earlier in the year the company had signalled that the most difficult phase was behind it. In June management said the worst was over, and in November the new chief executive, Franck Marilly, pledged a return to growth in the second half of the fiscal year.
For the full year 2025/2026 Remy Cointreau reiterated that it expects organic sales growth to be between stable and low-single-digits. At the same time, the group said it plans to continue investing in China and the United States to support its recovery, and it cautioned that annual current operating profit on an organic basis is expected to decline by a range described as low-double-digits to mid-teens.
Currency information noted with the release indicated that $1 equals 0.8347 euros.
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