Mexico's Becle anticipates volatile but encouraging outlook, shares surge
The Jose Cuervo maker's profit rose fourfold in the second quarter, bolstered by foreign exchange gains. Its shares were up about 5% in morning trading.
"Encouraging early signs of recovery in key markets, alongside sustained demand for high-quality authentic brands, support a more constructive outlook ahead," CEO Juan Domingo Beckmann said during a conference call with analysts.
He added that in the year's second half, the company will focus on accelerating growth in the U.S. market.
Becle last year made nearly 60% of its net sales in the U.S. and Canada, and a further 25% in its home market of Mexico.
The U.S. has threatened fresh tariffs against Mexico, its top trade partner, from August 1, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday signaled that goods covered by the USMCA free trade pact - such as tequila - would remain exempt.
"To date, no significant material regulatory changes have occurred, and trade between the U.S. and Mexico remains stable under the current frameworks," Becle's Managing Director for the U.S. and Canada, Mauricio Vergara, said during the company's earnings call.
Looking ahead the tequila producer "expects near-term volatility to persist in the US and Canada as the industry adjusts to ongoing challenges," he added.
Excluding foreign exchange effects, liquor sales volumes fell in each of its operating markets except Mexico, dipping 7% in U.S. and Canada in the three-month period ending in June.
Becle attributed the drop in North America to Canadian retailers limiting their U.S.-related purchases, while noting that in the rest of the world inventories remained high.
($1 = 18.5733 Mexican pesos)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Weight-loss jab Wegovy sees another prescription boost after ban on copycats
Novo Nordisk's weight loss drug, Wegovy, is experiencing a surge in new prescriptions following a US ban on its copycat versions, though analysts caution that more substantial growth is needed to reassure investors. Since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented a ban on 'compounded' versions of Wegovy on 22 May, new prescriptions for the drug have risen by approximately 33 per cent. This culminated in 181,200 new prescriptions in the week ending 18 July, according to IQVIA data shared with Reuters by industry analysts. The overall increase in Wegovy prescriptions is also narrowing the market lead held by Eli Lilly and Co's rival drug, Zepbound. While Zepbound prescriptions outpaced Wegovy by nearly 175,000 in the US during the week ending 23 May, this gap had reduced to around 133,000 by 18 July. Early signs of a shift come at a critical juncture for Novo. After Wegovy's initial stunning success, investor confidence was rattled when Zepbound and compounders started to slow the drug's growth. And then in May, the Danish company cut its full-year sales and earnings forecasts and announced the surprise exit of Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, citing market challenges and a stock price nearly 60% below its 2024 peak. Jorgensen said at the time he expected the FDA compounding ban to lift sales in the second half of this year. Investors are keen to hear whether that is still likely when the company reports quarterly earnings on August 6. That leaves the drugmaker in what Barclays analyst Emily Field called a "show me" phase - no longer buoyed by optimism about a turnaround but under pressure to deliver. She has an "overweight" rating on Novo's shares. "We thought this trajectory change (in new prescriptions) would get the shares moving, but not so far," Berenberg analyst Kerry Holford told Reuters. "I suspect investors are now waiting for the (second quarter) update - will they/won't they trim guidance range? I think they will trim the top." Berenberg has a "hold" rating on Novo. Novo did not respond to a request for comment. Investors and analysts note that the IQVIA prescription data is incomplete, because it does not capture sales of Wegovy through the company's direct-to-consumer platform, NovoCare, launched in March. They estimate the channel is still a small slice of overall Wegovy volume. "We would hope to see strong growth from the NovoCare channel but are cognizant that this may come at initially lower prices" due to discount offers, said Marcus Morris-Eyton, a portfolio manager at Alliance Bernstein, whose fund holds Novo shares. "Sentiment towards Novo Nordisk is currently exceptionally weak, but given low expectations, the low valuation and hopefully accelerating prescription data in (the second half of 2025) we believe the market is underestimating Novo's long term growth potential," he said. Booming sales of Wegovy catapulted Novo to become Europe's most valuable listed company, peaking in June 2024 at about 615 billion euros, after the weekly injection became the first highly-effective obesity treatment approved in the U.S. in 2021. But supply disruptions and gaps in health insurance coverage for Wegovy helped fuel the market for cheaper compounded - or copycat - versions, which are allowed under U.S. law when drugs are in shortage. Investor sentiment on Novo soured after the company lost ground to U.S. rival Eli Lilly, which launched Zepbound in late 2023. Capturing more of the patients who had turned to compounded drugs is key to meeting targets. The FDA determined that Wegovy was no longer in shortage in February, leading to the ban on compounded versions. Novo has rolled out new tactics to bring patients back, including a limited-time discount for one month's supply, and secured better coverage from insurer CVS Health. Analysts at Berenberg and UBS are sceptical these moves will provide enough momentum and expect that Novo will reduce or narrow its full-year guidance ranges, according to research notes. TD Cowen said the outcome was hard to predict due to limited visibility on NovoCare. Bank of America and Guggenheim said they did not expect another guidance cut and Barclays said it was unlikely. ($1 = 0.8513 euros)
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
First Thing: US-EU trade deal is a ‘dark day' for Europe, says French PM
Good morning. The US-EU trade deal, clinched in a ballroom at Donald Trump's golf resort in Scotland on Sunday, has been criticised by France's prime minister and business leaders across Germany. The deal, which will impose 15% tariffs on almost all European exports to the US including cars, ends the threat of punitive 30% import duties being imposed on Trump's 1 August deadline for a deal, but it is a world apart from the zero-zero import and export tariff the EU offered initially. It also means European exporters to the US will face more than triple the average 4.8% tariff now in force, with negotiations to continue on steel, which is still facing a 50% tariff, aviation, and a question mark over future barriers to pharmaceutical exports. What did the French prime minister say? France's prime minister, François Bayrou, said Europe had submitted to the US, on a 'dark day' for the union. 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,' Bayrou posted on X. Palestinians in Gaza have reacted with wariness after Israel began a limited, daily pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza to allow what Benjamin Netanyahu described as a 'minimal' amount of aid into the territory. Scores of Palestinians have died of starvation in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by humanitarian organisations and the UN to Israel's blockade of almost all aid into the territory. The World Food Programme (WFP) said 90,000 women and children were in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition and that one in three people were going without food for days. The Israeli military said it had begun a 'tactical pause' in the densely populated areas of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi and that the pause would be repeated every day from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice. How will Israel's 'humanitarian pauses' affect Gaza's starvation crisis? Israel has announced airdropped aid will resume and that humanitarian corridors would be established to facilitate the entry of UN aid trucks into Gaza. NGOs say these steps may ease aid access, but with mass starvation already under way, far more is needed. In particular, humanitarian groups have called for a full ceasefire in order to get civilians the help they need. The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, said yesterday he would have 'great pause' about granting a pardon or commutation to Ghislaine Maxwell while another House Republican said it should be considered as part of an effort to obtain more information about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. The splits over what to do with Maxwell illustrate the complicated challenge posed by the scandal for Trump, his Maga base and the broader Republican party. Donald Trump and his allies, including Johnson, have been under immense pressure to disclose more information about Epstein for weeks. Johnson weighed in on the possibility of a pardon after Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, met with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, over two days last week. What did Johnson say about the potential pardon? 'If you're asking my opinion, I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least. I mean, think of all these unspeakable crimes,' he told NBC's Meet the Press yesterday. A top US medical body has expressed 'deep concern' to Robert F Kennedy Jr over news reports that the health secretary plans to overhaul a panel that determines which preventive health measures including cancer screenings should be covered by insurance companies. The daughter of a woman murdered by a man from Laos who is among those controversially deported from the US to South Sudan has decried the lack of rights afforded to those who were expelled to countries other than their own. Several passersby helped apprehend a suspect who stabbed 11 people at a Walmart in Michigan, with video footage showing several citizens confronting him. Americans are getting married, having kids, buying a home, and retiring years later than what once was the norm – and many don't ever reach these milestones. The Guardian heard from hundreds of readers who shared their stories about how the current economic and political climate has put some of their biggest life decisions on hold. Donald Trump's obsession with dealmaking isn't about securing success so much as performing it, writes Arjun Appadurai. By treating every deal as a branding exercise – successful or not – Trump has found a way to amass wealth, skirt accountability and outmaneuver traditional markets. His defining trait? Avarice, not ambition. An Iowa toddler who was born when his mother was less than five months pregnant has been recognized as the world's most premature baby by Guinness World Records. When he was born Nash, who recently turned one, weighed only 10 ounces (283 grams). First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you're not already signed up, subscribe now. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
US-EU deal winners and losers
The US and EU have struck what is being billed as the largest trade deal in history, after talks in actually resembles the framework for an agreement rather than a full trade deal, with details still the headline figures announced by President Donald Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen do offer clues about which sectors and groups could be hit hardest or have most to reaction live Trump - winner After promising new trade deals with dozens of countries, Trump has just landed the biggest of them looks to most commentators that the EU has given up more, with instant analysis by Capital Economics suggesting a 0.5% knock to will also be tens of billions of dollars pouring into US coffers in import the glowing headlines for Trump may not last long if a slew of economic data due later this week show that his radical reshaping of the US economy is on inflation, jobs, growth and consumer confidence will give a clearer picture on whether Trump's tariffs are delivering pain or gain. US consumers - loser Ordinary Americans are already aggrieved at the increased cost of living and this deal could add to the burden by hiking prices on EU not as steep as it could have been, the hurdle represented by a 15% tariff rate is still significant, and it is far more pronounced than the obstacles that existed before Trump returned to are taxes charged on goods bought from other countries. Typically, they are a percentage of a product's value. So, a 15% tariff means that a $100 product imported to the US from the EU will have a $15 dollar tax added on top - taking the total cost to the importer to $ who bring foreign goods into the US have to pay the tax to the government, and they often pass some or all of the extra cost on to customers. Markets - winner Stock markets in Asia and Europe rose on Monday after news emerged of the deal the framework, the US will levy a 15% tariff on goods imported from the EU. While this rate is significant, it is less than what it could have been and at least offers certainty for agreement is "clearly market-friendly, and should put further upside potential into the euro", Chris Weston at Pepperstone, an Australian broker, told AFP. European solidarity - loser The deal will need to be signed off by all 27 members of the EU, each of which have differing interests and levels of reliance on the export of goods to the some members have given the agreement a cautious welcome, others have been critical - hinting at divisions within the bloc, which is also trying to respond to other crises such as the ongoing war in Ukraine.A big Trump win but not total defeat for BrusselsFrench Prime Minister Francois Bayrou commented: "It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission."He was joined by at least two other French government ministers as well as Viktor Orban, the Hungarian leader, who said that Trump "ate von der Leyen for breakfast". Carmakers in Germany - loser The tariff faced by importers bringing EU cars to the US has been nearly halved, from the rate of 27.5% that was imposed by Trump in April to a new rate of 15%.Cars are one of the EU's top exports to the US. And as the largest manufacturer of cars in the EU - thanks to VW, Mercedes and BMW - Germany will have been watching leader, Friedrich Merz, has welcomed the new pact, while admitting that he would have welcomed a "further easing of transatlantic trade".That downbeat sentiment was echoed by the German carmaking trade body, the VDA, which warned that even a rate of 15% would "cost the German automotive industry billions annually". Carmakers in the US - winner Trump is trying to boost US vehicle production. American carmakers received a boost when they learned that the EU was dropping its own tariff on US-made cars from 10% to 2.5%. Theoretically that could result in more American cars being bought in could be good for US sales overseas, but the pact is not all good news when it comes to domestic sales. That is down to the complex way that American cars are put of them are actually assembled abroad - in Canada and Mexico - and Trump subjects them to a tariff of 25% when they are brought into the US. That compares with a lower tariff rate of 15% on EU vehicles. So US car makers may now fear being undercut by European manufacturers. EU pharmaceuticals - loser There is confusion around the tariff rate that will be levied on European-made drugs being bought in the US. The EU wants drugs to be subject to the lowest rate possible, to benefit said pharmaceuticals were not covered by the deal announced on Sunday, under which the rate on a number of products was lowered to 15%. But von der Leyen said they were included, and a White House source confirmed the same to the scenario will represent disappointment for European pharma, which initially hoped for a total tariffs exemption. The industry currently enjoys high exposure to the US marketplace thanks to products like Ozempic, a star type-2 diabetes drug made in has been highlighted in Ireland, where opposition parties have pointed out the importance of the industry and criticised the damaging effect of 'not celebrating' Trump's EU deal US energy - winner Trump said the EU will purchase $750bn (£558bn, €638bn) in US energy, in addition to increasing overall investment in the US by $600bn."We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of US LNG [liquified natural gas], oil and nuclear fuels," said Von der will deepen links between European energy security and the US at a time when it has been pivoting away from importing Russian gas since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Aviation industry in EU and US - winner Von der Leyen said that some "strategic products" will not attract any tariffs, including aircraft and plane parts, certain chemicals and some agricultural means firms making components for aeroplanes will have friction-free trade between the huge trading added that the EU still hoped to get more "zero-for-zero" agreements, notably for wines and spirits, in the coming days.
