Pernod Ricard says Indian whiskies lift local brands sales 6% in the first quarter

Pernod Ricard said Thursday that sales of its Strategic Local Brands rose 6% organically in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, helped mainly by strong demand for its Indian whiskies Royal Stag and Blenders Pride.

The Paris-based drinks group said the increase was measured against the same quarter a year earlier at constant exchange rates and scope. It did not publish a euro sales figure for that brand category, and it did not break the gain down between volumes, pricing, and product mix.

The result points to India as an important source of growth for the company at a time when two of its largest markets, the United States and China, remain under pressure. Pernod Ricard said total net sales for the quarter were €2.234bn. That figure included a negative perimeter effect of €127m, mainly tied to the disposal of Imperial Blue and its wines business, and a foreign exchange impact of €3m, mainly related to the Indian rupee and Turkish lira.

Across the group, organic trends were mixed. Sales in the United States fell 10%, while China dropped 25%, with both markets affected by inventory adjustments that the company said it had expected. Pernod Ricard said underlying depletions in China returned to growth, which it described as a sign of cautious optimism in the trade ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Outside those two markets, the company said performance was stronger. Excluding the United States and China, sales in the rest of the world grew 4%. The Asia-Rest of World region rose 9%, led by India, where sales increased 19%.

Pernod Ricard said India continued to benefit from favorable consumer fundamentals and ongoing premiumization. It said growth there was broad-based across the portfolio, with imported spirits posting very strong double-digit growth, including Jameson, Absolut and Ballantine’s, while Seagram’s whiskies Royal Stag and Blenders Pride also delivered strong double-digit growth. The company also cited positive momentum from the launch of its new Xclamat!on spirits range.

The company said first-quarter sales in India also benefited from comparison effects linked to last year’s excise policy changes in the state of Maharashtra. In addition, it said preparatory steps for a potential initial public offering created a favorable pipe-fill effect that further supported first-quarter sales. Pernod Ricard added that any decision to move ahead with an IPO still requires board approval.

The 6% increase in Strategic Local Brands was separate from the group’s broader market performance and should not be read as a measure of the overall spirits market. Pernod Ricard classifies Royal Stag and Blenders Pride in that strategic local portfolio, which also posted support from solid momentum for Olmeca, according to the company.

By comparison, Strategic International Brands declined 1% in the quarter. Pernod Ricard said Jameson, Ballantine’s, Malibu and Perrier-Jouët showed strong momentum, while more modest growth at Chivas Regal and Royal Salute was offset by declines at Absolut and Martell. Specialty Brands fell 5%, largely because of weaker performance in the United States, although the company said Código and Monkey 47 recorded good results.

The company said first-quarter volumes returned to growth, rising 6%, while volumes of Strategic International Brands increased 2%. That volume growth came even as the broader business faced what Pernod Ricard called a volatile and uncertain global environment shaped by conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and by cost-of-living pressure in some markets.

Regional performance outside Asia was weaker. Sales in Europe fell 6%, which the company attributed to a soft start to the year, phasing effects in some markets, and continued pressure in the on-trade. It said some Western European markets posted modest declines, Germany’s sharper drop persisted, and Poland was affected by ongoing customer negotiations. Global Travel Retail fell 4%, with the company pointing to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which it said had a disproportionate impact on Asian travel retail markets.

In the Americas, sales declined 9%. Pernod Ricard said the U.S. spirits market was down about 2% by value and about 4% in bottled spirits, though it saw slightly improving underlying trends over the summer. The company said its sell-out gap to the market improved from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 to about 2 percentage points below the market. It also said Jameson and Kahlúa outperformed their competitive sets in sell-out, Skrewball improved, and Malibu rebounded strongly. Canada posted a modest decline, Brazil was down largely because of phasing, and Mexico fell sharply because of weak consumer demand.

For the full fiscal year, Pernod Ricard said it expects organic net sales to be broadly stable. It still expects declines in the United States and China because of the same inventory adjustments seen in the first quarter, while forecasting continued positive momentum in the rest of the world, especially in India. The company said advertising and promotion spending should remain around 16% of net sales and that it plans to protect its organic operating margin through tight cost control and faster implementation of efficiency measures.

Over the medium term, Pernod Ricard said it is targeting average organic net sales growth near the lower end of its 3% to 6% range for fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2029, while continuing to invest behind its brands and digital transformation.