中國需求回暖促人頭馬業績反彈

It has been a long time coming, but Rémy Cointreau shareholders have finally found something to toast — shares of the Paris-based spirits maker jumped almost 9 per cent yesterday before trimming gains, marking the biggest intraday rise in six years.

雖然姍姍來遲，但人頭馬君度集團(Rémy Cointreau)的股東們最終還是等到了值得慶祝之事——這家總部位於巴黎的烈酒製造商的股價週三開盤跳漲近9%，隨後漲幅收窄，盤中漲幅創下6年新高。

The shortlived surge came as the family-controlled group, famous for its Rémy Martin cognac, reported a 13.5 per cent increase in operating profit on an organic basis for its business year ending in March to 156m — about 5 per cent ahead of market expectations.

這次短暫的飆升出現在這家以人頭馬(Rémy Martin)干邑聞名的家族企業發佈財報之後。在截止今年3月的一財年中，該集團的營業利潤實現13.5%的有機增長，至1.56億歐元，比市場預期高出約5%。

Signalling its growing optimism, it also said that it expected operating margins to rise to between 18 per cent and 20 per cent by 2020, up from the 16.2 per cent that it reported yesterday.

該集團還稱，預計到2020年，營業利潤率將從此次的16.2%升到18%至20%，顯示該集團對前景日益樂觀。

Rémy also said that it would increase its dividend payment this year more than 20 per cent to 1.53 from 1.27 in 2014. The situation presents a contrast to last year, when the group was struggling amid the Chinese government’s crackdown on lavish spending and gift-giving by officials — an abrupt policy change that punished revenue and led to a brutal decline in operating profit. Could it mark a turnround not only for Rémy but also for rivals?

人頭馬君度集團還表示，今年支付的股息將從2014年的每股1.27歐元增至1.53歐元，漲幅超過20%。這一局面與去年形成了鮮明對比——當時中國政府打擊官員奢侈消費和送禮風，該集團陷入了困境。中國政府這一突然的政策變化打擊了集團營收，並導致營業利潤嚴重下滑。眼下的消息是否標誌着不僅是人頭馬君度，其競爭對手也將迎來轉機？

Stephen Rannekleiv, analyst at Rabobank, said: “Among the most obvious reasons for optimism is the return of Chinese demand. The first couple of months of 2015 have signified some positive momentum gains after Chinese new year. Cognac is also seeing positive trends in other emerging Asian markets, such as Vietnam and Malaysia.”

荷蘭合作銀行(Rabobank)分析師斯蒂芬•蘭涅克萊夫(Stephen Rannekleiv)稱：“一個非常明顯的樂觀理由是中國需求的迴歸。2015年頭幾個月已經預示了中國農曆新年後的一些積極增長勢頭。人頭馬乾邑在其他亞洲新興市場也出現了積極的趨勢，比如越南和馬來西亞。”

Diageo, the world’s largest spirits group, suffered a 78 per cent drop in its premium baijiu business in its financial year ending June 2014. However, in the first nine months of its current financial year, net sales rose by 13 per cent in mainland China, driven by recovery in baijiu.

在截止2014年6月的那一財年中，世界最大酒業集團帝亞吉歐(Diageo)的高端白酒業務下滑了78%。但在當前財年的前9個月，在白酒銷量復甦的驅動下，該集團在中國內地的淨銷售額上漲了13%。

One bright spot for Rémy has been its newfound managerial stability, with the arrival in September of chief executive Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, a former L’Oréal and Louis Vuitton executive.

人頭馬君度業績的一個亮點在於，隨着歐萊雅(L’Oréal)和路易威登(Louis Vuitton)前高管瓦萊麗•沙普洛-弗洛凱(Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet)去年9月出任人頭馬君度首席執行官，該集團管理層重現穩定。

The company appears to have drawn a line under a turbulent period that began when Frédéric Pflanz, its then newly appointed CEO, resigned in January 2014, just as tumbling sales of cognac in China were hitting performance.

人頭馬似乎爲自2014年1月以來的一個動盪時期畫上了句號。當時剛上任不久的首席執行官弗雷德裏克•普夫蘭茨(Frédéric Pflanz)辭職，同時在中國的銷售大幅下滑也開始打擊集團業績。

Cognac from its Rémy Martin division last year accounted for about 53 per cent of group revenue — but 73 per cent of operating profit.

去年，人頭馬乾邑部門約佔集團營業收入的53%，但卻貢獻了營業利潤的73%。

The inevitable questions about leadership only grew louder when Patrick Piana, the much-respected chief executive of the Rémy Martin division, announced barely a month later that he was also leaving.

普夫蘭茨辭職後不到一個月，備受尊敬的人頭馬乾邑部門首席執行官帕特里克•皮亞納(Patrick Piana)也宣佈辭職，使得該集團領導層問題不可避免地進一步凸顯。

Ms Chapoulaud-Floquet’s arrival at the group is already having a positive impact on operations. The better numbers yesterday came in part from cost-cutting and a significantly lower advertising budget.

沙普洛-弗洛凱的到來已經給集團的運營帶來了積極的影響。週三發佈的出色報表，部分源於成本削減和廣告預算大幅調低。

A second case for optimism has come in the form of strong sales in the US, where the group has moved upmarket — and where its stable of liqueurs and spirits such as Cointreau, Mount Gay rum and Metaxa has gone down well.

第二個樂觀的理由是美國的強勁銷量。該集團在美國已進入高端市場，而且包括君度(Cointreau)、凱珊 (Mount Gay)朗姆酒和邁塔克瑟(Metaxa)在內的利口酒和烈酒一直賣得很好。

That performance has even pushed the US ahead of China in terms of Rémy’s biggest market by revenue. Growth in the US market also helped operating profit at the company’s liqueurs and spirits division jump 51.9 per cent on an organic basis .

這一表現甚至已使美國超過中國成爲人頭馬君度最大的營收市場。美國市場的增長也幫助該集團的利口酒和烈酒部門營業利潤實現51.9%的大幅有機增長。

The shares closed up 3.04 per cent at 66.05 yesterday in Paris.

該集團股票週三在巴黎股市收漲3.04%，收盤價爲每股66.05歐元。