Sales of Jameson up 7% in six months to December

Sales of Jameson whiskey grew by 7 per cent globally in the six months to the end of December, according to figures released by Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard today.

Jameson is the flagship brand of the company and it said the value of its sales of the spirit rose 14 per cent over the period. The company said 2.7 million cases of the whiskey were sold in 2008 and it hopes to increase this to 3 million by the end of the decade.

The company plans to increase its marking spend on the whiskey to €70 million globally for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Jameson sponsors a number of film festivals including the Dublin International Film Festival.

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard said the alcoholic drinks market in Ireland declined 10 per cent last year as the weakening economy, low consumer confidence and a growing pattern of shopping in Northern Ireland hurt sales.
While this had impacted on its brands a company spokesman said it had increased market share over the period.

Earlier the Pernod Ricard group  reported a 24 per cent rise in first-half recurring operating profit to €1.2 billion.

"Although visibility is limited for the second half of the year, we anticipate that the wines and spirits sector will on the whole continue to show excellent resilience," Pernod said in a statement.

The company also said it expected to continue to gain market share "in many countries" in the second half.

First-half sales rose 13 per cent to €4.21 billion, Pernod said. Group net profit rose 5 per cent to €615 million in the period, rising 15 per cent to €685 million based on recurring operations.

The group added that it continued to expect "strong organic growth" in recurring operating profit for the full year, but trimmed its forecast to a 5-8 per cent rise from 8 per cent previously.

Currency exchange rates would have a positive impact of €80 to €110 million, it said.

Reuters