Pernod Ricard Ready For Acquisitions?

摘要

Pernod Ricard has followed Diageo in posting a strong set of resultsnfor its latest fiscal year. In the 12 months to the end of June, the firmnregistered net sales growth of 7%, while net profits increased by 9%.nThe firm has described the performance as its best rate of growthnsince 2007/2008, with sales bolstered by rapidly growing demandnin Asia and Eastern Europe, combined with a steady performancenin the Americas and Northern Europe. This helped to offset a weaknperformance in Southern Europe. Of equal interest is the fact thatnPernod Ricard's debts are nearly at a level where the firm could benin a position to once again think about acquisitions – which couldnthen help to kick-start a new round of consolidation within the sector level prior to the Vin & Spirit acquisition (see chart). While this isnstill significantly higher than key rival Diageo, which maintains annet debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 3, Pernod Ricard is now in a morenflexible position and is likely to be able to compete for any attractivenassets that come onto the market.