Palaiseau, France, Aug 29 - French wine and spirits group Remy Cointreau sees U.S. economic stagnation having a temporary ripple effect in Asia, but plans a marketing drive to pull through, its chairwoman said on Friday.
Speaking on the sidelines of French business lobby MEDEF's annual meeting, Dominique Heriard-Dubreuil said lower growth in traditional markets meant that emerging economies like those in Asia were becoming even more important to underpin sales.
Remy Cointreau makes Remy Martin cognac and Piper-Heidsieck champagne, quintessential French luxury brands, but its market value of 1.6 billion euros is small compared with the 13.6 billion euros of aniseed drinks specialist Pernod Ricard.
"The real impact of the United States economic crisis will run its course not only in Europe, but also in Asia, an important market for us," Heriard-Dubreuil said.
"We are counting on around a year of stagnation ... Emerging markets do not entirely compensate for slackening demand in areas like Europe or the U.S., but they help," she added.
"We are concentrating on products offered. What do people want, after a tough time, to prove they have made it through? We will focus on this in our communication, presentation, special offers, and so on."
On July 30, Remy Martin shares plunged eight percent when it forecast flat profits for 2008/09, despite posting a 3.8 percent rise in operating profit in the year to end-March.
The shares have since recovered from that level and were trading at 36.33 euros at 1104 GMT for a cumulative 2008 decline of 26 percent.
Heriard-Dubreuil said the company had been exposed to high energy and raw materials costs over the past year, but hoped a recent easing in these prices would help keep Remy's own price increases minimal.
"Currency fluctuations lead us to rethink pricing much more than energy, as we produce in euros and sell in dollar areas. The (strengthening) of the dollar has been rather good for us, because I think we are moving towards a rebalancing," she said.
Remy has said it would abandon its 25 percent stake in distribution venture Maxxium in 2009. Heriard-Dubreuil said the company was not planning any new acquisitions.
"We're just finishing a revamp of our worldwide distribution network, so we're really focusing on that. So we've no (acquisitions) planned for the short term," she said.
Remy Cointreau is majority owned by the Cointreau family and the Orpar holding firm which represents the Heriard-Dubreuil family and Highland Distilleries.