Paris: French drinks giant Pernod Ricard on Thursday blamed weak markets in the United States and China and increased tariffs for a 26 percent fall in annual profits to 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion).
The group, whose 200 brands include Beefeater gin, Absolut vodka and a host of top whisky names, said that turnover slid 14 percent in its full year to end-June to 9.4 billion euros, mainly because of weaknesses in the US dollar, Indian rupee and Turkish lira.
