Campari reports U.S. sales up double digits

Italian spirits company Campari released first-quarter results Monday that showed big gains in the United States but flat sales overall.

For the quarter that ended March 31, Campari reported net sales of $372 million, with organic sales growth of 7.2 percent. Sales in the United States were up 14.8, partly due to the timing of shipments, the company said.

Sales of the Wild Turkey family, which is made in Lawrenceburg, were up almost 2 percent globally, with sales in the United States up 7.5 percent and 10.5 percent in Australia. And the core bourbon was up 10.4 percent in the United States, the company reported.

Other Campari brands showing growth in the United States include Aperol, up 56.3 percent; Appleton Estate rum, up 17.6 percent, and SKYY vodka, up 2.6 percent. Campari said sales of American Honey were growing in the United States “but suffering overseas.”

Campari CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz said that “the first quarter is traditionally a small quarter and that this year our performance was impacted by some one-off drivers, positive as well as negative.”

“On the positive side, these results benefited overall from an earlier Easter than in 2015, as well as from some shipments phasing in the U.S., which will gradually reverse in the next quarters.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Campari reports U.S. sales up double digits."