DAVIDE CAMPARI-MILANO NV

Rating Action and Rationale

• EthiFinance Ratings affirms Campari’s long-term rating at BBB-, maintaining its Stable outlook.

• Based in Milan (Italy), Campari is a major player in the global spirits industry with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super-premium brands.

• The rating is supported by Campari’s positioning as a major player in the global spirits industry, being now the sixth largest global player. The group has a portfolio of over 50 premium brands (such as Campari, Aperol, Wild Turkey, and now Courvoisier) across the main categories. Campari also has good geographical diversification with a global reach, as its products are sold in around 190 countries (with its own distribution network in 26 countries). In April 2024, Campari acquired 100% of Courvoisier S.A.S., the owner of the major French cognac brand Courvoisier. This acquisition of Courvoisier has strengthened further its geographical diversification, expanding its presence in the US (despite some current uncertainties linked to tariffs escalation).

• In addition, we expect the credit metrics to improve over our forecast period (2025-27), after the deterioration following the acquisition of Courvoisier. The acquisition, amounting to around €1.2bn, was paid by a mix of debt and equity. This led to a deterioration of EthiFinance Ratings-adjusted net leverage to 3.9x at YE24 (vs 2.8x at YE23). Over our forecast period, we expect the adjusted net leverage to improve to below 3.0x, without additional M&A and reduced capex from 2026, after significant investments made since 2022. 

• However, our rating remains constrained by the discretionary nature of the industry’s products, as the consumption of spirits may be negatively impacted by a significant deterioration of the overall macroeconomic environment. The current market environment is challenging for beverage players with soft consumption, high level of stocks at retailers, and geopolitical tensions leading to tariffs in China and potentially in the US. This materialized in Campari’s FY24 results as the group generated €3.1bn sales with a moderate organic growth of 2.4%. The overall growth of 5.2% was mainly driven by the change in perimeter (+2.7%), mainly linked to the Courvoisier acquisition. Profitability has slightly deteriorated with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.4% (vs 24.0% in FY23). This is linked to higher costs related to Campari’s business investments, while pricing and mix effects have been limited. Over our forecast period, we expect the growth in sales to remain soft given the challenging market environment. Regarding profitability, the finalization of investments should contribute to an improvement (expect adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.1% on average). However, our assumptions didn’t factor in the potential impact of US tariffs, which could deteriorate the business performance (28% of the FY24 sales generated in the US). Finally, we view negatively the concentration of the group’s sales in some global priority brands. In particular, a sustained downturn in Aperol (c. 24% of FY24 sales) or Campari (c. 11%) sales could significantly impact total sales.

• The beverages subsector has medium-to-high ESG risks under our methodology (sector heatmap score between 3.5 and 4), slightly constraining our industry assessment. Regarding environmental factors, the industry has a low impact on climate and biodiversity, but has some impact on pollution linked to the use of glass and plastic bottles. However, the sector raises significant health issues around sugared soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. In particular, the latter can have a higher impact on consumers’ health compared to “regular beverages”, with alcohol-related harm being a major public health concern (responsible for c.255-290k deaths each year across EU countries, according to the WHO). In addition, legal and regulatory constraints from state authorities (including changes in regulations relating to production, distribution, importation, marketing, advertising, pricing, and packaging) may have a negative impact on the financial performance of a company operating in this subsector.

• Our assessment of the company’s ESG policy is advanced (company ESG score of between 0 and 1), positively impacting our financial assessment. Campari’s governance and environmental scores are excellent, while the social score remains good. Its very good governance assessment mainly reflects the existence of a business conduct and anti-corruption policy, a good analysis of ESG issues (including the prioritization of ESG issues), and the separation of the roles of chairman and CEO. It’s worth mentioning the change in CEO, which has not impacted our government assessment but remains monitored. Regarding environmental factors, we highlight the significant year-on-year decrease in Campari’s energy and water consumption, respectively resulting from energy efficiency investments in its production sites, and the launch of a “water reduction programme” to optimize water use. The group is also committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, however its commitments have not been validated by the SBTi. Finally, social factors are supported by the decrease in accident frequency rates, but remain constrained by only the partial certification of its facilities for quality management, and health and safety management.

Issuer Description

Founded in 1860, Campari is a major player in the global spirits industry (6th largest global player), with a well-diversified portfolio of over 50 premium and super-premium brands across the major categories, including aperitifs, vodka, whisky, tequila, rum, gin, and cognac. Its brands are categorized into global, regional, and local priority brands based on their business priority, geographic scale, and growth potential. Global priority brands represent almost two-thirds of the group’s revenues (c.69% of FY24 revenues), and include brands such as Aperol (c.24%), Campari (c.11%), and Espolon (c.9%). Campari owns 25 manufacturing facilities worldwide (including distilleries and bottling plants) and its products are marketed and distributed in around 190 countries, with its own distribution network in 26 countries. These are called direct markets (c.93% of revenues in FY24), where it sells directly to retailers and wholesalers. Campari is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001, and has a market capitalization of €6.9bn (market close on April 14, 2025). Lagfin (the holding company of the Garavoglia family) controls 51.8%.

For 2024, Campari generated revenues of €3.1bn, representing a 5.2% growth yoy, and adjusted EBITDA of €627.7m (-10.2% yoy), equivalent to a 20.4% margin (vs 24.0% in 2023). The consolidated EthiFinance Ratings net leverage ratio was 3.9x at end-2024 (vs 2.8x at end-2023).

Main Financial Figures 

Credit Rating

Rating Sensitivity

• Long-term rating positive factors (↑)

A rating upgrade could be possible with a sustained improvement in Campari's financial profile, particularly if the group manages to deleverage faster than expected following the acquisition of Courvoisier. For the same business risk profile, a decline in the group’s EthiFinance Ratings-adjusted net leverage ratio to below 2.8x, for a sustained period of time, could also entail a long-term rating upgrade to BBB.

• Long-term rating negative factors (↓)

A rating downgrade could result from a sustained deterioration in Campari’s financial profile, which could happen if the group is unable to deleverage following the acquisition of Courvoisier, or if the challenging macroenvironment has a greater negative impact on revenues and profitability (additional tariffs from the US for example). For the same business risk profile, an EthiFinance Ratings-adjusted net leverage ratio above 3.5x for a sustained period of time could entail a long-term rating downgrade to BB+.