Soaring inflation, recession at the gates, uncertainty... and party. I really want to go out and celebrate. Raventós Codorníu, the winery controlled by the Carlyle capital fund and part of the extended Raventós family, is expecting an extraordinary Christmas season. Despite the efforts of this and other companies in the sector to seasonally adjust consumption, sales in the last month of the year continue to be very important. And December 2022 aims high.
"It's going very well, we expect general double-digit growth, which in the case of the hospitality industry will exceed 30%," explains Sergio Fuster, CEO. In 2021, the omicron variant of the coronavirus spoiled the good prospects for restoration after two years of pandemic. This year, on the other hand, hotels and restaurants benefit from the recovery of travel, events and company lunches and dinners.
For Codorníu, which closes its accounts in June but has not yet published them, the foregoing confirms the good progress of the first months of the 22-23 financial year, which began on July 1, in which it is registering a sales boom of 25 % over those of 18-19, the reference for being the one before the pandemic and the war. Part of the growth is due to inflation, although Codorníu has passed on only part of the increase in its costs and has limited the rise in prices to less than 10%. From the previous year, it is known that revenues were close to 220 million, as expected, and gross operating profit (ebitda) was boosted by 40%.
Fuster is satisfied with these figures, but much more with the way to achieve them: "It is very healthy because it is based on our strategy of betting on value, with an advance of ars collecta, our best products, which have gone from representing less from 10% of sales to about 20%”. Codorníu refuses to make prosecco and believes that the debate on the change in the rules of the DO Cava to make the maturation period of the sparkling wine more flexible. “We want to stop looking at cavists and get closer to champagne”, adds the CEO.
In this sense, the company is also looking for opportunities to grow inorganically. And after two or three hard years, the change in the monetary policy cycle has made access to credit more expensive, something that affects both wineries and funds. Carlyle, who has been in the capital for four years, welcomes making a purchase as long as it adds value to the market segment in which Codorníu wants to be.
Inside, the company also celebrates social peace. A few weeks ago, the management and the committee agreed on a new three-year collective agreement, with salary increases of 3.2% this year, 2.1% in 2023 and 4% in 2024, with a technical salary review clause in function of inflation. It is one of the first agreements in the wine sector of large companies in Spain.
