It may take its name from the red liqueur, but Campari Group relied on tequila, bourbon and aperitifs to outperform the drinks market last year.
Sales for the year were up 10.5 per cent on an organic basis to €2.9 billion, beating expectations, while operating profit also smashed consensus, increasing by 15.5 per cent organically to of €618.7 million.
Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Bernstein, praised an “impressive” 90 basis-point margin improvement for the year, driven by a “phenomenal” fourth-quarter profit increase of 45.5 per cent on the back of a 350-basis point margin improvement.
Broken down by brand, Aperol led the way with a 23 per cent increase in organic sales for the year, followed by Campari at 11 per cent, Wild Turkey at 9 per cent, its Jamaican rums at 7 per cent and Espolon tequila at 36 per cent.
Campari Group guided analysts to “continued outperformance” for the coming year, with margins benefiting from the easy cost environment, especially with the agave plant used to make tequila.
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The company, which lifted the full-year dividend by 8.3 per cent to of €0.065 per share, claimed it had consistently delivered a best-in-class performance in total shareholder returns since its IPO in 2001.
During a busy year Campari bought Courvoisier cognac from Beam Suntory in a deal worth up $1.32 billion, while Bob Kunze-Concewitz announced he would be stepping down as chief executive this April after 16 years.
The Italian group also benefited form the continuing popularity of the Negroni cocktail made form equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari.
