Jack Daniel's whiskey maker Brown Forman (NYSE:BF.A, NYSE:BF.B) faced considerable currency headwinds in the first quarter of its financial year.
Net sales in the three months to the end of July fell 2% from US$921mln a year earlier to US$900mln, but would have been up 7% year-on-year on a constant exchange rates (CER) basis,
Reported operating income was up 3% from a year earlier to US$227mln, but was up 9% on an underlying basis.
Diluted - if that's the right word for a whisky maker - earnings per share increased 7% to 75 cents from 70 cents in the first quarter of the previous financial year, bang in line with analysts' estimates.
Paul Varga, the company'c chief executive officer, said it was a strong start to the year, despite a volatile global economy and unhelpful foreign exchange rates.
"Our growth in underlying sales and operating income were impressive, and continued to compare quite favorably to our industry competitive set,” Varga said.
"These results were again driven by the Jack Daniel's trademark and our leading portfolio of American whiskey brands. Given our first quarter results and expectations for the continued global growth of our brands, we are confirming our fiscal 2016 outlook of 6% to 7% underlying sales growth, 8% to 10% underlying operating income growth, and EPS in the range of $3.40-$3.60," Varga added.
The "A" shares were off 1.2% at US$107.49 late in the lunchtime trading period in a rising market.