For Europe’s upmarket fashion and spirits brands, doing business in China in recent years has been anything but a life of luxury. Lower economic growth and a government crackdown on opulent gift-giving between businesspeople and officials have slashed sales growth and weakened profits.
But as brands ranging from Rémy Martin and Martell to the likes of Gucci and Louis Vuitton try to compete in the new environment, one thing has become startlingly clear: in the face of China’s newfound temperance, some groups are faring better than others.
Pernod Ricard revealed yesterday that like-for-like sales of wines and spirits in China in the second half of 2014 fell 6 per cent, compared with the same period a year earlier. Shares in the Paris-based group closed more than 4 per cent down as markets swallowed the news.