Companies news
Pernod’s India Sales Up 14% In July-March
GST doesn’t include the alcoholic beverage industry.
BENGALURU: French liquor company Pernod Ricard said its sales in India rose 14% for the first nine months (July 2017-March 2018) of its fiscal compared with just 1% in the year-earlier period, which suffered from dwindling sales due to the impact of demonetisation.
The company, the world’s second-biggest spirits maker behind Britain’s Diageo, said global sales rose 6.3% organically to about 7 billion euros, helped by higher revenue from Asia that rose 10%. The company attributed the Asia growth to the early onset of the Chinese new year and “strong growth” in India. Asia contributes 42% to the top line.
With the “highway ban now fully implemented, no further disruption (is) expected. We are awaiting clarification from the GST council as to the scope of tax application,” the company said in an investor presentation on Thursday. This statement is in reference to the Supreme Court’s move to ban liquor outlets within a distance of 500 metres from highways.
