Hello everyone, and welcome to our Q3 FY 2025 sales calls. I guess you've all seen the press release this morning. Hélène de Tissot, our Group CFO, will provide a brief opening comment before we move to your questions. To allow everyone to ask a question, please ensure you have two question maximums for Hélène. Thank you. Hélène, over to you.
Thank you, Florence, and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining this Q3 sales call. We report a resilient performance with organic sales -3% in Q3, -3% reported, and year-to-date -4% organic, -5% reported. Volumes are growing year-to-date at +1%. Price mix is -5%, primarily caused by strongly negative market mix effect. Note that there are some phasing technicalities impacting Q3 that will reverse in Q4. In India, to start with, the implementation of new automated customs clearance procedures that has delayed the clearance of our imported brands, and a temporary production interruption in a third-party production facility in one major state, which is now resolved. Second technicalities, Global Travel Retail. In addition to the impact of the suspension of cognac in duty-free, the quarter is impacted by cycling a very high comparison basis, +38% last year.
The third technicality, which is impacting a number of markets, especially in Europe, is the later date of Easter, with Easter Sunday falling on 24th April, which is three weeks later than last year. The global macroeconomic and geopolitical environment remains challenging and very frayed as regards to tariffs. Nonetheless, our balanced and broad-based geographic breadth and our diversified portfolio remain key in mitigating some of the impacts caused by the environment. While three out of four of our commerce markets are significantly down, the rest of the world, accounting for two-thirds of sales, is in growth. As explained in our H1 results, we are actively managing what is within our control as we adapt to these challenging circumstances. We are continuously adapting our resources with agility, deploying our efficiency program, and steering the organization to fuel our future growth and optimizing our cash generation.
For fiscal year 2025, we are confirming our outlook of low single-digit decline in organic net sales, while sustaining our organic operating margin. I am confident in sustaining organic operating margin given the progress we are making in operational efficiencies, which is our ongoing process of continuously improving both how we operate and how we are organized. I emphasize that this outlook incorporates the expected tariffs based on the information we have today. At H1 communication, we explained that our outlook was predicated on a tariff scenario with an annualized risk of circa EUR 200 million, with circa EUR 140 million in China and circa EUR 60 million in the U.S. This risk scenario remains in line with current tariff situation, i.e., 10% baseline tariff and including 20% reciprocal tariff on the EU. A&P will be maintained at circa 16% of net sales, and strict discipline applied to structure cost.
Maximizing cash generation remains a core focus for the group. Regarding foreign currency, at H1, we reported a negative FX impact of EUR 110 million on profit from recurring operation, and that we expected this effect to be positive over H2, leading to an improvement for the full year versus H1. The U.S. dollar and emerging market currencies have subsequently weakened, and based on current spot rates, we can expect FX to be broadly neutral in H2, and for full year, FX impact to be broadly in line with H1 at profit from recurring operation level. Turning now to our performance in our markets, our sales performance, starting with the U.S., net sales Q3 at 2%, year-to-date - 5%. The U.S. spirits market remains broadly stable. Q3 organic net sales are ahead of sell-out, and we are supported by wholesalers' orders ahead of tariffs announcements.
Our sell-out gap to market continues to reduce on both value and volume. This improvement, in particular with Jameson, Absolut, and Kahlúa, reflects our ongoing focus on execution, with actions being taken on pricing, commercial excellence, and marketing excellence. For example, reinforcing our own trade brand advocacy team and developing partnerships and collaborations that ensure cultural relevance for our brands through media sponsorship and product innovation. I can mention Malibu Media featuring actor Brian Cox, Jameson sponsorship of Major League Soccer, and Kahlúa Chocolate Sips launch. Overall, for the U.S., we remain confident in the recovery of the market, convinced that the current challenges are primarily cyclical in nature, and we expect to see continuing gradual improvements in our sell-out performance. Moving to China, net sales Q3 -5%, year-to-date -22%. The macro context remains challenging.
We see sharp declines on Martell, and as expected, CNY was very soft, with significant declines in gifting. We are delivering very strong growth on premium brands with Absolut, Olmeca and Jameson, and Q3 sales benefit from cycling a favorable comparison basis. We've been taking price from Martell at the level of mid-single digits in February. Moving now to India, net sales Q3 +1%, year-to-date +5%, both-based growth year-to-date with strong underlying market demand and continuing premiumization trends. We are delivering a softer Q4 due to phasing, caused in part by the implementation of a new customs clearance procedure impacting imported spirits, and also a temporary production interruption in a third-party production site in a major state, which interrupted sales of domestic spirits and which is now resolved.
We see continuing strong growth, not to say very strong growth, of Jameson, Ballantine's, and Royal Salute, good growth on Seagram’s whiskies, notably Royal Stag. We are expecting a strong momentum in Q4, which includes catch-up from Q3. Global Travel Retail, net sales Q3 - 31%, year-to-date - 17%. As expected, sharp decline in Travel Retail driven by suspension of the duty-free regime on cognac in China Travel Retail, and with a very high comparison basis, Q3 last year again was at + 38%. Europe in Travel Retail continues in growth. The Americas continue to enjoy good traveler numbers and growth on cruises.
In other markets, Europe continues to demonstrate overall resilience with growth in France and U.K., offset by ongoing macroeconomic driven decline in Germany, as well as high comp basis in Germany last year of plus 36%, and the impact in Spain from the later Easter timing, which is impacting as well other markets like U.K. and Germany. In Asia, Japan is in good growth year-to-date, though Q3 impacted by high comparison basis. In Americas, Brazil enjoys good growth with favorable comparison basis and consumer demand recovery, and Canada enjoys good growth year-to-date. In the Middle East and Africa, we are having strong growth in Turkey and in South Africa. That concludes my opening comments, and now we can open the line for questions.
Thank you. This is the conference operator. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. First question is from Andrea Pistacchi, Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning, Hélène, Florence. Two questions, please. The first one is on Europe. Europe was a bit softer than most were expecting, I think, in Q3. Could you give a bit more perspective on what drove the deterioration? You called out Easter phasing, which is clearly a factor, but what is also underlying? What geographies are performing better? Which ones look more challenging? The second question, please, is on the U.S. I was wondering whether you're able to quantify the impact of the shipment phasing ahead of tariffs. Will this phasing effect unwind in Q4? Considering the level of stocks that you have in the U.S. now, either with distributors or at Pernod U.S.A., when should we start to see an impact from the tariff on your P&L? Assuming the current sort of situation of 10% is confirmed, will the impact be delayed into the next fiscal? Thank you.
Thank you, Andrea. I think it's probably more five questions than two, so please.
Sorry.
Try to make it to two. Very obviously a fair question. Let me start with Europe. As I mentioned in my introduction comments, there is an Easter impact for three weeks, which makes it obviously very different from what it was last year. Let me maybe reiterate that we are posting solid results, resilience for Europe globally, and with some growth in very significant markets for us like France and the U.K. Maybe let me then zoom on two markets for which the performance in Q3 is a bit more challenging. Spain and Germany. Starting with Spain, obviously Easter impact, as you mentioned. The market is in, I would say, modest decline. That is what we are as well delivering in Spain. For Germany, the macroeconomic situation is obviously, as you know, challenging and has an impact on the consumer demand.
For us in Q3, there are some technicalities linked to this high comp. Last year, Germany was growing at 36% in Q3, which was obviously as well boosted by some technicalities. To be very clear, there were some replenishment post-commercial conflict in Q3 last year. We do not manage our business on a quarterly basis in Europe and in any other region, to be fair. On top of that, just maybe as a reminder, Q3 is a very small quarter in Europe. There are probably some extreme technicalities impact because it is a low quarter. Globally, Europe resilience. Second question, U.S. Yes. The shipment phasing, obviously when you look at the numbers of Q3, net sales are at + 2%.
You have obviously the same information that we have in terms of sell-out, and we are probably more right now delivering sell-out, which are, I would say, at circa -6%, probably more moving to -5% in value. There is some gap there linked to the wholesalers' order ahead of the tariff announcement. It is a bit difficult to be extremely, I would say, prescriptive on what to expect in Q4 because obviously the tariff situation is quite fluid, as we say. The inventory might continue to be impacted by the tariff uncertainty. As far as our portfolio of brands is concerned in terms of performance expected for Q4, we are, as you know, continuously closing that gap to market. It is quite visible in the past three months' numbers.
We expect that to continue to happen in Q4 with some improving performance, especially on big brands like Jameson, Absolut, and Kahlúa. In terms of brand activation, Q4 is quite an exciting quarter in terms of business, with many, I would say, festive seasons happening, with Easter, but as well Father's Day, Cinco de Mayo. We have a lot of activation happening with festivals, Absolut at Coachella, Código at Stagecoach. We have as well the media launch, which I think was quite funny, Malibu Clock Off with Brian Cox, and lots of as well events with Innovation and Kahlúa and Absolut. Our teams are extremely motivated to have our brands very desirable and visible in Q4.
Thanks. Just to clarify here, Q4 then you should be still quite shielded from the impact of the tariff, right? Not a material impact in the U.S.
Yes. Yes, exactly. For us, basically in fiscal year 2025, the main impact of tariff is China, which we are completely accepting. That is why we are confirming our ability and our confidence to sustain the operating margin in fiscal year 2025.
Thank you.
Next question is from Gen Cross, BNP Paribas Exane. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the questions. You called out a number of technical phasing impacts in Q3 that you expect to reverse in Q4. I just wonder if you comment, with these in mind, would you expect to return to directionally positive group organic sales growth in Q4? I note that there was not any comment on FY 2026, which I think is probably quite typical with the Q3 trading update. Can you just reiterate that your expectations with respect to an improvement in organic sales growth next year has not changed? Thank you.
Thank you. These are only two questions, so thank you for that. Q3 technical phasing to reverse in Q4, yes, that's what I said. By the way, what I can as well add to that is that if we are, let's say, adjusting Q3 numbers from all those technicalities, Q3 underlying growth would have been circa +2%, -2%, sorry, which means slightly better than Q2. With those reversal of technicalities and to obviously deliver a lesser obvious decline, you're right, Q4 would be probably in modest growth. By the way, as I said as well, two-thirds of our business are growing in H1 in year-to-date. This is as well our expectation for the full year, probably growing at circa +1%.
For fiscal year 2026, yes, we reiterate the sequential improvement in the top line that we were sharing for the H1 communication.
Thank you very much.
Next question is from Edward Mundy Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Hélène. Two questions, please. First is on India, clearly some phasing impacts within the third quarter. Could you perhaps double-click on what's going on within India and sort of degree of comfort that as we look to Q4 and fiscal 2026, it's a much cleaner outlook and probably more in line with underlying trends. The second question is just perhaps a quick lap of the world in terms of inventories. We've touched a little bit around the U.S., given some of the volatility there from a tariff standpoint. Perhaps you could talk about inventories around the world. Where may they be heavy? Where are they looking normalized? How are you thinking about the overall health of inventories if we are going into a potentially slower macro environment?
Yes, thank you. I start with the inventory. You're right. This is obviously something that we are always carefully monitoring throughout the year with a clear focus on ending with a healthy level of trade inventory at the end of June. Nothing new for us. This is something that we're absolutely monitoring, I would say, as usual. When it comes to the inventory at the end of March, they are slightly elevated in the U.S. and China given the macro circumstances. In the U.S., as I said, this is due to the wholesalers buying ahead of tariff. In China, it is as well slightly elevated with some trade buying ahead of price increases because we had an increase in price in February for Martell. India, the underlying performance is quite strong.
For all the reasons you know, we are in a very strong position in terms of market share. Our portfolio of brands is very well exposed to the consumer dynamics opportunities, both for the local portfolio of brands but as well for the imported brands. That is what we expect for the year, a solid growth in India. We have the same ambition for fiscal year 2026 and beyond. To tell you that there will not be some technicalities from one quarter to the other, especially in a country like India, I think it is impossible. Again, that is not what matters. What matters is the continuous deployment of our strategy and strong growth, which is as well relying on very strong polarization trends. We are as well very ambitious for fiscal year 2026 in India.
Thank you.
Next question is from Trevor Stirling, Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Hi, Hélène. Just one from me, Hélène. You're getting better as they go on. The U.S. sell-out gap, Hélène, just double-checking. If the market's flat and you're at - 5, that's a 5 percentage point gap. When I look at some of the public data, it looks like you're closer than that. Just wondering if there's anything else going on and maybe some substance on how quickly that gap is being closed. That would be great. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Trevor, for this question. I was obviously running with the figures and there's obviously some weekly updates. What matters is the trend. It's quite visible now, especially in terms of volumes, that we are closing the gap strongly. We are probably now at only one point gap in terms of volume performance versus the market. We are still a bit penalized by a negative price, which is obviously going to ease moving forward because, as you know, we've been adjusting some of our pricing position and as well increasing some promotional efforts behind our brands where it was necessary. This started already a year ago, but because of the stricter system, it can take a bit of time to reach the shelf. We're going to be moving quickly to a comparison basis where those price adjustments were in place.
That will obviously help us to reduce and close that gap even faster. You're right, it's probably slightly better than this circa -5% depending on the period we are looking at. This is obviously something that we expect to see accelerating in the near future.
Very helpful. Thank you, Hélène.
Thank you.
Next question is from Simon Hales, Citi. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Morning, Hélène. Morning, Florence. Hélène, can I just sort of come back and clarify your comments around the underlying performance in Q3 if we exclude the U.S. stock build, the Easter phasing, the India issues? I think you said your organic sales would have been down - 2, so 100 basis points better than the headline you reported this morning. If that's correct, as we head into Q4, I'm just trying to understand how we get back into positive growth, given that I think the comps in China are tougher. We won't be seeing such a stock build again in the U.S. in Q4. I just wonder what the moving part is, which markets are really going to move forward in Q4 significantly to get you into positive growth. I appreciate India will improve, but where else could be better?
I wonder if you could just talk a little bit about the Asian duty-free situation at the moment. Are you still not able to ship into that trade channel?
Yeah. Let me come back to first the question in the Q3, Q4. As I said, we would be at -2.1% precisely if we were adding back positive and negative phasing effects in Q3, which are mainly, maybe to repeat them to make sure that this is clear for everyone, some of the positive phasing effects in the U.S. with the wholesalers buying ahead of the tariff announcements. These technicalities in India, some Easter impact in different European markets, and as well the Travel Retail, very high comp in Q3. Now moving to Q4, to be fair, if you are restating from those technicalities, we do not expect a significant change in the underlying performance in Q4. If you want, I can be a bit more specific looking at our Must-Win markets.
India, again, expect to see a strong momentum in Q4 with a reversal of those Q3 phasing effects. India was at + 1% in Q3. We expect a strong growth in Q4, double-digit to be clear. For Travel Retail, it would be a much less significantly severe decline than Q3 because of the favorable comparison basis we're going to enjoy in Q4. Despite the suspension of cognac listing in China to Q3, maybe I can as well answer your second question here. The most recent announcements are more linked to the ability for our customers to sell the cognac brands that they already bought than anything that could impact our selling in Q4. At least that's what the situation is as we speak. Easter, obviously, will have a positive impact in Q4 in a number of markets, including Spain.
For the U.S., it's likely to be rather soft given the underlying sell-out I was referring to, even if, to be fair, the tariff situation is bringing some uncertainty in terms of what to expect in Q4. For the rest of the business, it's circa 60%. Again, we expect it to be at least flat or growing in Q4, which is very consistent with year-to-date. I hope it's helpful.
Very helpful. Thanks, Hélène.
Next question is from Olivier Nikolai, Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, Hélène and Florence. Just regarding the U.S., you mentioned good growth in Skrewball for the first time, I think, since you bought the brand. I remember you had some distribution issue in the past post the acquisition. Has it been resolved now, and do you see that growth as sustainable? Similarly, just to stay on the U.S., regarding Jameson, would you be able to comment on St. Patrick's Day performance, although I will understand if we have to wait mid-May for the update from cognac? Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you. I mean, Skrewball is obviously a brand that we are very excited about, and we bought it quite recently. This is obviously tapping into the opportunity of the flavored whiskey in the U.S. You are absolutely right. There were some disruptions in terms of transition of the distribution, which is now over. Skrewball is now in growth, and we are obviously expecting to grow much more in the future. To be fair, there is a lot of things that are happening. We had a very successful and funny media campaign. We are now increasing the presence and visibility of Skrewball both in the on-trade and in the off-trade. We believe it is absolutely critical to give the opportunity to the consumer to taste the product, which is, I mean, the quality of the liquid is very strong. Obviously, more to come on Skrewball.
Jameson, obviously, a very big and strong brand for us in the U.S. We are in a much stronger place when it comes to the performance of Jameson recently, especially when you look at the performance versus the competitive side. Jameson is, I would say, overperforming. St. Patrick's Day, we have some early insights. As you know, it happened on a Monday, which is not ideal. We managed to quite nicely use that as an opportunity to talk about more of St. Patrick's Day season than a St. Patrick's Day or St. Patrick's season rather than St. Patrick's Day. According to those early insights, Jameson has performed well versus competitive sets. It has not been the best St. Patrick's Day ever because of this timing.
We're going to take the last question, please.
Last question is from Chris Pitcher, Redburn Atlantic. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, Hélène, Florence. A quick follow-up on the U.S. You mentioned that you're putting through the pricing adjustments and some promotional activity. At the group level, you talk about sustaining operating margin. Has cognac been given the leeway to actually invest margin in the U.S. with the rest of the group covering this? A clarification, apologies if I've missed it, but in terms of the completion of the wine sale, is that still on track for the end of the fiscal year? Thanks.
Yes, thank you. You did not miss anything. I did not mention that. For the closing of the wine disposal, our expectation is that it will happen around spring. Spring started two days ago. We are confident that this will happen in the next weeks, very likely before the end of the fiscal year. I would say completely in line with our expectation, and our teams are working hard to finalize the closing. When it comes to your question on sustaining the margin and investing in the U.S., if I can summarize it like this, again, the U.S. is our number one market. We are investing strongly in that market, and we have the ability to sustain our organic margin this fiscal year without, obviously, compromising on the level of investment we want to put behind our brands in the U.S.
Maybe just to reiterate our confidence to sustain the margin this year. First, volumes are stable or growing in the year-to-date, which is what is helping to absorb our fixed costs. We have some pricing more subdued than at the time of the high inflation, but we are still increasing prices in some markets and significantly, by the way, in both markets, especially emerging markets, but not only. We are impacted by a negative market mix for sure when you look at the net sales numbers of markets like U.S., China, and Travel Retail. We are delivering significant efficiencies both at COGS level and as well at structure level, I would say, behind every line of the P&L. I guess you remember that we were mentioning this EUR 900 million efficiency program that we intend to deliver from 2023 to 2025.
Half of it is going to be delivered this fiscal year, and that's why we have that confidence of sustaining our operating margin without compromising in terms of investments behind our key priorities, by the way, not only in the U.S., but everywhere else. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much. Have a very good day, everyone.
Thank you. Bye.
Bye-bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones.