By Joshua Kirby

Pernod Ricard SA said Thursday that sales rose strongly in the first quarter of its fiscal year, with dynamic performance in both on-trade and off-trade and across geographies.

Sales at the French drinks group came to came to 2.72 billion euros ($3.17 billion) from July to September, an increase of 20% at constant currency from EUR2.24 billion in the same period of fiscal 2021.

The group's largest geographic division, Asia/Rest of World, recorded the strongest organic increase of 23%, but the Americas and Europe also posted double-digit increases.

On-trade sales to hospitality businesses continued to recover in the quarter, while off-trade sales to supermarkets remained resilient, the maker of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey said.

Analysts had expected strong organic growth given an easy comparative with the previous-year period, when sales dipped 6% amid continued pandemic-related squeezes on travel retail. The category remains subdued, Pernod Ricard noted, but benefited from the soft comparative.

The company expects to see continued sales growth for the rest of fiscal 2022, though at a lesser pace than in the first quarter, Chief Executive Alexandre Ricard said.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-21-21 0201ET