Investor expectations are depressed ahead of first quarter results (29 August) from Jack Daniel’s distiller Brown-Forman (BF.B:NYSE) given the difficult market conditions facing the Lawson Whiting-led group and peers ranging from Diageo (DGE) and Pernod Ricard (RI:EPA) to Remy Cointreau (RCO:EPA).

Growth is slowing in the global spirits industry following the strength seen during and immediately after the Covid pandemic, and while Brown-Forman is making progress internationally it remains heavily skewed toward the sluggish US spirits market.

Shares in Brown-Forman, which has had to cut its organic growth forecast on a number of occasions of late, are nursing a heavy hangover as a result, down 35% over one year and more than 20% lower on a five-year view.

On 5 June, the Louisville-based company, whose brands also include Diplomatico rum, Woodford Reserve bourbon and Fords Gin, poured out news of a disappointing 8% decrease in net sales to $1 billion for the fourth quarter ended 30 April 2024.

Encouragingly, Brown-Forman said it expected a return to growth for organic sales and organic operating income for the year to April 2025 driven by ‘gains in international markets and the benefit of normalising inventory trends’, although this outlook was tempered by a belief that ‘global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties will continue to create a challenging operating environment’.

US UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

QUARTERLY RESULTS

27 Aug: GE Healthcare, Hewlett Packard

28 Aug: Nvidia, Salesforce, CrowdStrike Holdings, HP Inc, NetApp, Cooper, JM Smucker, Bath & Body Works

29 Aug: Marvell, Dollar General, Brown Forman, Best Buy, MongoDB, Ulta Beauty, Campbell Soup

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