Rémy Cointreau Cognac sales climb 10.3% organically in H1
The group has cut its expected tariff hit to operating profit to about €5m from €20m, and sets out its medium-term targets on 25 November.
Rémy Cointreau's Cognac division grew 10.3% on an organic basis in the first half of its 2026-27 financial year, which runs from April to September 2026. The division took €338.7m (US$376.8m) in sales, and in the second quarter alone it accelerated to 12.4% organic growth.
Group sales over the half reached €510.9m (US$568.3m), up 2.9% organically. The reported increase was 4.4%, helped by a 1.5% currency effect from the renminbi's appreciation, partly offset by slight dollar weakness. The company confirmed its full-year objectives and called the performance in line with its trajectory.
The momentum built quarter by quarter. First-quarter organic growth was just 1.3% on sales of €223.2m (US$248.3m). The second quarter then stepped up to 4.2% organic growth across the group, as Cognac shipments gathered pace in Asia.
Cognac accelerated in Asia Pacific, notably in China, as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the Americas, though, Cognac sales fell in the second quarter, which the firm put down to a high base of comparison in the United States.
Latin America, by contrast, turned in what the company described as a strong performance. The Cognac story is therefore split: momentum in Asia, Europe and Africa, and a tougher American comparison that Rémy Cointreau says hides an underlying trend it calls encouraging.
Liqueurs drag, partner brands collapse
The liqueurs and spirits division fell 7% organically over the half to €169.7m (US$188.8m), and by 7.4% in the second quarter. Rémy Cointreau attributed the fall to destocking in the Americas after changes in US distribution, but said depletions kept rising.
Those depletions were supported particularly by Cointreau, The Botanist and Mount Gay. Performance in Europe, the Middle East and Africa was described as mixed, with weakness in Europe still weighing on results despite a return to growth in the UK.
Partner brands fell furthest, down 62.5% organically to €2.5m (US$2.8m). The group attributed that drop to the discontinuation of distribution in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg from April, so the category now reaches fewer markets than a year earlier.
Where the regions turned
Across the group, sales in the Americas fell 5.5%, with Rémy Cointreau citing the high basis of comparison for Cognac and destocking in the US after the distribution changes. It said the trend showed further sequential improvement and was broadly stable.
Asia Pacific sales rose 14.3%, driven by accelerated shipments to China in the second quarter ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival and continued strong momentum across the rest of Asia. Europe, the Middle East and Africa declined 2.2% overall.
Within that region the firm noted a strong performance in Africa and a marked improvement in the UK. Subdued consumer demand continued to weigh on the rest of Europe, which held the region back despite the surge in Asia.
Tariff hit shrinks
Rémy Cointreau now puts the full-year operating profit hit from tariffs at about €5m (US$5.6m), down from around €20m (US$22.3m) previously. It expects no impact in the US, while expectations for China are unchanged.
The group expects a return to sustainable organic sales growth, with momentum strengthening progressively over the year. That is the stated basis for confirming its 2026-27 objectives after a first half in which total organic growth was 2.9%.
It plans a webcast on 25 November to outline its medium-term financial objectives. The session will include details of its transformation plan, which the company first announced in April.
The Cognac revival leans on China, where shipments were pulled forward ahead of the festival. The company has not said how much of the second-quarter Cognac growth of 12.4% came from that timing, and Asia Pacific's 14.3% rise includes it.
Liqueurs, spirits and partner brands all shrank in the half, so the group's 2.9% organic growth rests on one category. Cognac's €338.7m compares with €169.7m for liqueurs and spirits and €2.5m for partner brands.
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