Campari Group half year results fizz with 8% growth

Italian liqueur maker Campari Group posted an organic growth of 8% in its 2019 half year results on Tuesday.

Campari Group owns Aperol, as well as Campari Bitter. Both are typically served with prosecco and soda water as a spritz, easily identifiable by their glowing orange and red respective tones.

The Italian classics have proven popular lately among millennials after Campari Group’s marketing campaigns.

The company said that reported sales for the first half of the year amounted to €848.2 million.

It said that its strong organic sales growth was driven by continuous sales mix improvement thanks to the key high-margin brand and market combinations, with a recovery in the emerging markets.

Additionally, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew to €180.3 million in the first half of the year.

The group’s performance in North, Central and Eastern Europe was largely driven by double-digit growth of Aperol across the region, Campari Group said.

“After a very strong start to the year, our positive business momentum continued in the second quarter 2019, the peak season for aperitifs, helped by the late Easter effect, despite the tough comparable base as well as the poor weather in May across Europe,” Bob Kunze-Concewitz, Chief Executive Officer, said in a company statement.

“Key underlying profitability indicators grew ahead of organic sales development, thanks to a very positive sales mix, which more than offset the dilutive impact of the emerging markets recovery and the adverse effect of the agave purchase price, whose growing trend is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year,” the Chief Executive Officer continued.

“Reinvestments in brand building and sales capabilities initiatives are also expected to continue in the second half. Looking into the full year, the outlook remains fairly balanced in terms of risks and opportunities.”

“The positive business momentum is expected to continue, with persisting volatility of emerging markets in their key seasonality period. We remain confident in delivering a positive performance across all key underlying business indicators.”

Shares in Davide Campari-Milano SpA (BIT:CPR) were up 4.67% as of 12:14 CEST.

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