JWN quarterly rum sales fall $400m
Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2020 | 12:20 AM
Rum sales by J. Wray & Nephew Limited, JWN, slid €2.4 million, or the equivalent of $400 million in local dollars, in the March quarter.
The company’s revenues have been pressured by social-distancing rules, including the lockdown of bar and entertainment spots as a virus containment measure.
The Jamaican Government announced the reopening of bars this week, which should alleviate some of the sales pressures for the rum maker in the rest of the June quarter.
Campari Group, the parent company for JWN, said the revenue from Jamaica amounted to €22 million, down from €24.5 million in the March 2019 period. On a Jamaican dollar basis, revenue fell from $3.7 billion to $3.3 billion.
“Jamaica recorded a decrease in sales … penalised in particular by closures in the on-premise channel and a sharp fall in tourist flows caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect was exacerbated by an unfavourable comparison base in the same period in the previous year, and mainly due to Campari, Wray & Nephew Overproof and the local brands,” Campari said in its newly released earnings report.
On the side of exports, Jamaica rums increased 3.7 per cent in global sales, partly offsetting the declines in Jamaica.
“The latter was impacted by the decrease in tourism as well as by the closure of the on-premise channels, due to measures against COVID-19 pandemic. Sales of Appleton Estate fell slightly down 1.8 per cent due to destocking ahead of new packaging in February. The good performances in Canada and the UK were more than offset by the fall recorded in New Zealand and in the global travel retail channel,” Campari added.
Jamaican rums portfolio, led by the Appleton Estate brand, was relaunched in the Canadian market in February with a new design that seeks to emphasise the brand’s ‘premium’ characteristics. In addition, a new range of aged rum, Kingston 62, was launched in the Jamaican market.