Current Operating Profit (COP) came in at €334.4 million, up +39.9% on an organic basis (up +41.6% on a reported basis). This performance was mainly driven by exceptional growth in Current Operating Profit from Group Brands (up +39.5% on an organic basis) and takes into account a €6.9 million increase in holding company costs consisting of a €2.0 million donation to the Rémy Cointreau Foundation and €4.9 million in respect of medium- and long-term retention measures, employee savings and the employee share ownership plan.
This performance also includes favourable currency effects (+€6.4 million), mainly as a result of the favourable trend in the euro/yuan exchange rate. Furthermore, the average euro/dollar conversion rate improved from 1.17 in 2020/2021 to 1.16 in 2021/2022, while the average collection rate (linked to the Group’s hedging policy) came out at 1.17 in 2021/2022, stable year on year. Lastly, this performance takes into account adverse consolidation scope effects of -€2.4 million arising from the acquisition of Brillet and Telmont.
The Current Operating Margin thus rose sharply, up +2.1 pp on a reported basis to an all-time high of 25.5% (up +2.3 pp on an organic basis). This strong organic growth reflects the following:
- a +1.5 pp increase in the gross margin (up +2.1 pp vs. 2019/2020) to its highest ever level of 68.6%, driven by very favourable price/mix effects and strong growth in volumes;
- excellent absorption of overheads (with the overhead ratio down 2.3 pp on an organic basis);
-increased investment in marketing and communications (with the ratio up 1.5 pp on an organic basis) to boost brands’ medium-term growth potential;
In addition, the Group recorded neutral currency effects and adverse consolidation scope effects (-0.2 pp).
Operating profit came in at €320.3 million, up +35.8% on a reported basis, after taking into account -€14.1 million in non-recurring items.
The net financial expense improved from -€14.6 million in 2020/2021 to -€13.2 million in 2021/2022.
The tax expense totalled €95.6 million, giving an effective tax rate of 31.1% (29.3% excluding non-recurring items), a significant improvement on 2020/2021 (35.1% on a reported basis and 33.5% excluding non-recurring items). This improvement was mainly the result of a reduction in the tax rate in France and a favourable geographical mix.
After taking into account the Group’s share of net income from associates, net profit attributable to the Group came in at €212.5 million, up +47.0% on a reported basis (up +45.7% on an organic basis).
Excluding non-recurring items, net profit attributable to the Group came in at €228.1 million, up +53.9% on a reported basis (up +52.6% on an organic basis), giving a net margin of 17.4%, up +2.7 pp on a reported basis (up +2.9 pp on an organic basis).
Earnings per share (excluding non-recurring items) came out at €4.52, up +52.8% on a reported basis.
Net debt stood at €353.3 million, up €39.0 million from the position at 31 March 2021. In addition to free cash flow, this improvement in net debt mainly reflects the non-cash effect of the early conversion of €154.6 million of OCEANE debt, offset by the share buyback programme (€169.5 million) and the payment of a cash dividend (€93.7 million). This resulted in a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 0.79x at 31 March 2022, compared with 1.33x at 31 March 2021.
The return on capital employed (ROCE) came out at 22.2% for the year ended 31 March 2022, up +5.1 pp year on year (up +4.9 pp on an organic basis). Continued strategic purchases of eaux-de-vie adversely affecting capital employed were offset by a significant improvement in the profitability of Group Brands.
At the annual general meeting to be held on 21 July 2022, the Board of Directors of Rémy Cointreau will propose the payment of an ordinary dividend of €1.85 per share in cash and an exceptional dividend of €1.0 per share payable in cash or shares. This dividend reflects the Board’s and the management team’s high level of confidence in the Group’s growth outlook.
