Davide Campari-Milano SpA board of directors said the group’s results in the first half of 2013 were “in line with expectations, driven by the return to a positive organic sales performance in Q2 2013 (+1.4%) and the positive contribution of the acquisition of Lascelles deMercado & Co. Ltd.”

CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz said: “In the first half of 2013 results were in line with expectations, thanks to the return to positive organic performance in the second quarter driven by the sustained growth in North America, Russia and Argentina as well as the stabilisation or improvement of trends in other developed markets particularly Italy and Germany.

“The aperitif business proved its resilience, although it was affected by very adverse weather conditions. Skyy and Wild Turkey franchises continued their positive momentum. Cinzano performed strongly driven by Russia and the newly integrated Appleton rum portfolio maintained its positive performance in core North America and New Zealand,” he said.

“Following the negative impact of the one-off destocking in Italy in the first quarter of 2013, the overall performance in first half of 2013 was also affected by a disproportional concentration of non-recurring charges which reflected the decisions of the group to accelerate on restructuring projects to strengthen the business in the medium term. Looking forward, while the group’s overall trading environment should remain volatile due to macroeconomic difficulties in key markets, we expect the business to continue improving gradually over the second half of 2013, driven by sustained brand building across key brand-market combinations and the strengthening resonance of the brand portfolio in new geographies,” said Kunze-Concewitz.