What happened? We recently caught up with Pernod Ricard ahead of its closed period (it reports Q325 sales on 17th April) to get an update on what the company has been saying to investors over recent weeks. Pernod Ricard reiterated its FY25 outlook. BNPP Exane View: Overall, we felt the tone was somewhat cautious with respect Q3 organic sales albeit primarily driven phasing effects (colour below) between Q3 and Q4. Overall, we would not be surprised to see consensus Q3 organic sales growth expectation reduce to a modestly negative development (cf. BBG cons. +1.0%). Points of colour below: Phasing effects: Q325 organic sales growth is likely to be negatively impacted by phasing effects from a combination of the de-listing of Martell (Cognac) in China Duty-Free (which is more skewed to Q3); the impact of a new automated customs clearance procedures in India; Easter phasing (particularly in some markets in Europe, like Spain); and very elevated comps. in Japan (c.+40% in Q324). Partially offsetting this, it is conceptually possible that wholesalers in the US have stocked in anticipation of possible tariff increases. US: Spirits industry sell-out trends remain below historical norms. but remain in modest positive territory in RTDs. Pernod Ricard continues to see a shallowing of the gap between its sell-out trends vs. the industry (i.e. share trends are improving) and sell-in will face a sequentially easier comp. in H2 vs. H1. China: While there has been no change in Pernod Ricard''s expectations for China vs. that shared with H125 results and the macro remains weak, the company noted it has a considerably easier comp. in Q3 (vs. both H1 and Q4). India: Q3 will face the above-mentioned phasing impact from the new customs duty clearance procedure but underlying momentum in India remains strong and the market continues to see broad based growth.