Distilled premium boosts sale of Campari in the country

The premium segment pulled the Italian group Campari's growth in Brazil last year. Second global report released yesterday (10/3), the Brazilian operation recorded organic sales increased 7.6% in 2014, favored by Campari aperitifs and Aperol, and Skyy Vodka.
The Brazil accounts for 5.2 percent of the company's global sales. "The performance in Brazil was very good, with strong performance of premium brands and national lines," said Bob KunzeConcewitz, President of the Campari Group. "I believe that the main brands will have a good performance in 2015, even with the weakening of consumption in the country," he added.
Campari sales grew by double digits in the Brazilian market, compared with an increase of 9.8% in overall sales. Skyy vodka also presented two-digit advance in the country and just 1.3% in the world. For the aperitif Aperol, the increase in Brazil was 7%. KunzeConcewitz added that the local brands also showed positive performance, with an increase of 3.7% on sales, driven mainly by the Cognac Dreher.
The Executive said that the biggest concern of the company currently is the currency fluctuations. In the case of the Brazilian operation, the loss was 8.9% in 2014 in revenue with the devaluation of the real against the euro. "Today is very difficult to predict how this is going to be the exchange rate this year. It's going to take to assess the evolution of the euro, the dollar, the real any longer to have a clearer vision, "he said.
Last year, the Gruppo Campari registered 12.9% drop in overall profit to € 128.9 million. The result was impacted by foreign exchange losses and non-recurring expenses with the acquisition of Forty Creek Distillery and Gruppo Averna, amounting to € 236,1 million. In revenue, the company reported growth of 2.4%, to € 1.56 billion. Organic growth was 3.4%. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda, the acronym in English) fell 10.5% in 2014, to € 294.4 million.