Pernod Ricard, the parent of Irish Distillers, has announced a 25.6 per cent increase in sales to €2.04 billion (£1.6 billion). Most of this, 14.9 per cent, was due to acquisitions, but there was underlying growth of 6.4 per cent.

The biggest-selling Irish whiskey brand, Jameson, had a 2 per cent growth in sales. However, the underlying position was much better as the removal of duty-free reduced sales by 10 per cent, said Mr Richard Burrows, Irish Distillers chief executive and one of the joint managing directors responsible for half of Pernod's business. The underlying increase, he added, was 12 per cent. Annual sales to June were 1.25 million cases.