Campari cashes in on core brands

Italian spirits producer Gruppo Campari is on track for a strong rise in profits this year after it posted impressive growth margins for the six months to 30 June.

Campari CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz (Photo: Gruppo Campari)

The group is pointing to the selling off of non-core assets and a focus on its popular brands for the good performance, which saw net profits rise 36% to €77.9 million (£54.3m) in the period.

Its biggest brands include its namesake Campari aperitif, Aperol, Appleton Estate Jamaican rum, Skyy vodka and Wild Turkey whiskey.

Organic sales for these, which represent 45% of total turnover, grew 5.8%, with Jamaica’s rums the top selling.

Group sales rose to €757.9m (£528.5m) from €686.1m (£478.4m), a 3.8% jump at constant exchange rates but a rise of 10.5% in reality, showing the extent to which the group benefited from currency fluctuations.

The first six months of the year generated a total organic growth of 2.7%, which Gruppo Campari says was held back slightly by sugar prices.

In the group’s markets, the Americas, Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific all saw organic sales growth of 3.4%, 3.9% and 7.4% respectively.

However, Russia had a negative effect on the results for Northern, central and eastern Europe, which contracted by 1.5% organically.

Shares in Campari rose briefly to touch an all-time high of €7.57 (£5.28) following the results announcement, news agency Reuters reports.