MILAN (Reuters) -Campari missed forecasts on Tuesday with an 18.2% drop in third-quarter operating profit and the Italian spirits maker warned its fourth-quarter results would be hit by lower production volume and an unfavourable sales mix.
Spirits makers have been struggling with lacklustre demand in the key markets of China and the United States after a post-pandemic boom. Remy Cointreau slashed its full-year guidance last week.
Campari said it expected net sales to increase by a low-single digit percentage for the full year, after a surprise 1.4% fall in the third quarter.
Third-quarter net sales at the Aperol maker totalled 753 million euros ($814 million), missing analysts’ consensus forecast of 832 million euros, according to Visible Alpha.
Milan-based Campari said macroeconomic, industry and climate factors all weighed on its results.
Looking ahead, it forecast “a gradual return in the medium-term to a mid-to-high single digit organic net sales growth trajectory in a normalized macro environment”.
It said streamlining its product portfolio and clamping down on costs would help to achieve that goal.
Chief Executive Matteo Fantacchiotti abruptly quit in September after only five months in charge, with the company citing personal reasons for his departure.
The company said on Tuesday it expected to conclude the search for a new CEO by the first half of next year.
($1 = 0.9258 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Mark Potter)
