French drinks group Rémy Cointreau has predicted that its operating profit will fall by 25% to 30% in the 2019/20 fiscal year due to the impact of coronavirus.

The company released initial details of the impact of coronavirus yesterday on 2 April. It revealed that its revenue for the 2019/20 fiscal year ending March 2020 was down by 12% in organic terms, caused by a 26% downturn in sales in the fourth quarter of the year despite “excellent” performance at the start of the Chinese New Year.

While the figures are stark, the group said it was witnessing some improvement in greater China, with most shops reopening as well as some restaurants and bars.

However, it said that it would take several months for Chinese wholesalers to de-stock before they need to start replenishing once more.

As a result of this, and the collapse of the global travel retail market and the on-trade in other countries, Rémy Cointreau estimates that its organic sales will fall by a greater margin in the first quarter of the 2020/21 fiscal year, than they did in the fourth quarter of 2019/20.

Despite this, the drinks group said it remained “confident” about its ability to survive the crisis and that it would “emerge from it even stronger, overtime”.

The drinks group has been active in helping to fight the spread of coronavirus. In China, it donated 1 million yuan to the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling foundation for the purchase of protective medical equipment in February. It then donated a further 200,000 yuan, sourced from donations by its Chinese collaborators and a matching amount paid by the group.

In France it has converted production sites in Cognac (Rémy Martin), Angers (Cointreau) and Triève (Distillery of the Domaine des Hautes Glaces) into neutral alcohol producing plants for health organisations, with the output to be used in sanitisers. It also gave 8,000 surgical and FFP2 masks to hospitals in Cognac and Saintes.

Other sites around the world including its Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, Westland distillery in Seattle, and Mount Gay Rum in Barbados are also helping the hand sanitiser production effort.

The news follows similar predictions from fellow French drinks company Pernod Ricard, which also said that the Covid-19 outbreak would have “widespread repercussions” on its business. Pernod Ricard expects its operating profit to fall by 20% in FY20, having initially predicted that the virus could cause just a 2% fall in its FY2020 sales.

疫情致人头马君度利润下滑三成

法国酒饮巨头人头马君度集团预测，由于新冠疫情的影响，其2019/20财年的营业利润将下降25%至30%。

人头马君度集团近日发布了有关新冠病毒影响的初步估计。该集团透露，尽管年初受中国春节的推动表现出色，但由于第四财季销售额下降了26%，导致其截至2020年3月的2019/20财年的自然收入下降了12%。

该集团表示，虽然这些数字很不理想，但其在大中华区的情况已有所改善，大多数店铺都已经恢复开业，一些餐馆和酒吧也重新开业。

但是它也表示，中国批发商需要几个月的时间才能去库存，然后才会再次开始补货。

总体而言，加上全球旅游零售市场的崩溃和其他国家的交易，人头马君度估计其有机销售额在2020/21财年第一季度的下降幅度将大于2019/20财年第四季度。

尽管如此，该集团表示，对自身在危机中的生存能力仍然“充满信心”，并将“从危机中脱颖而出，变得更加强大，持久”。

自疫情爆发以来，该集团一直在积极帮助抵抗病毒的传播。在中国，它于2月份向上海宋庆龄基金会捐赠了100万元人民币，用于新冠疫情的防治医疗物资采购以及一线医务工作者“心理抚慰”项目等。同时，还从全球范围的公司内部筹集捐款20万元人民币，以进一步帮助中国战胜新冠疫情。

在法国，该集团已将位于干邑(人头马)、昂热(君度)和特里夫(Domaine des Hautes Glaces威士忌酿酒厂)的生产基地改建为中性酒精生产厂，用于消毒剂的生产。此外，还向干邑和桑特的医院提供了8,000个手术口罩和FFP2口罩。

该集团在世界各地的其他生产基地，包括艾莱岛上的Bruichladdich酿酒厂，西雅图的Westland蒸馏厂和巴巴多斯的Gay Rum朗姆酒厂，均已投入手部消毒剂的生产工作。

在此之前，另一大法国酒饮巨头保乐力加也做出了类似的预测。保乐力加表示，新冠疫情爆发将对其业务产生“广泛影响”，预计2020财年的运营利润将下降20%。

徐菲远 译自The Drinks Business