Spirit sales up at global brands

THE two top spirits producers in the world Diageo and Pernod Ricard have reported continuing improvements in their trading performances for the first nine months of their respective trading years.

Pernod, which is number two to Diageo in terms of spirits sales, delivered a strong third-quarter performance buoyed by solid emerging market growth.

In a trading update for the nine months ended March 31, 2011, the group, which owns Irish Distillers said Jameson Irish whiskey, continued to deliver impressive growth.