WRAy & Nephew Ltd annual sales, led by its flagship Appleton rum, totalled roughly ¤101 million euros (J$12.5 b) in 2014 or slightly less than a year earlier, just released financials from its parent Campari Group indicate.

Non-core business pulled down local sales but the Jamaican rum portfolio posted better results, according to financials of the Italian-owned group.

“Sales in Jamaica declined organically by 4.4 per cent in 2014, driven by the soft performance of the non-core business, partially offset by the positive results of the Jamaican rum portfolio and Campari,” according to statements on the results.

Factors which affected the local performance included currency movements and the change in the overall “perimeter” size of the business relating to the “termination” of distribution agreements of select consumer products in Jamaica.

Local sales amounted to 6.5 per cent of total Campari group revenue at ¤ 1.56 billion euros. Campari made net profit of ¤128.9 million euros or 13.9 per cent lower than a year earlier due to one-off costs.

“The Jamaican rum portfolio, including Appleton, Wray&Nephew White Overproof and Coruba, showed overall very good results with an organic growth of 4.4 per cent, improving progressively throughout the year, mainly driven by the US,” stated Campari on the results. “Canada and Jamaica showed an improving trend, starting to benefit from new marketing strategies. The new markets for the brand portfolio, Italy, Germany, Japan, Austria, France and Chile showed an encouraging momentum.”

In the financial year, the group continued to shed non-core business in Jamaica as part of its effort to focus on rum and spirit activity. These included the termination of its distribution arrangement for Kimberly-Clark products, which included household names Kleenex, Scott and Huggies. It also sold a property by the wharf in Kingston for some 2.4 million euros.

Campari acquired Lascelles in December 2012 for some US$409 million from Trinidad-based majority shareholder, CL Financial, and local shareholders. Campari then merged 22 local companies into the long-standing Wray & Nephew in order to strengthen the group’s route to market in Jamaica.