LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Led by strong sales for its whiskey and tequila brands, Brown-Forman Corp. reported higher fourth-quarter net income Wednesday despite taking a hit from the Trump administration’s tariff fight.
The Louisville, Kentucky-based company – best known for its Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey brand – said tariff-related price adjustments shaved 1 percentage point off its full-year net sales growth.
But the company showed its resilience to the trade disputes by posting robust sales growth in emerging global markets. It also posted sales growth in the highly competitive U.S. market.
American whiskey producers face stiff retaliatory tariffs in the European Union, the industry’s biggest export market, as part of the Trump administration’s trade disputes. It’s a headache that’s continuing into the company’s new fiscal year.
Brown-Forman products account for a big share of the American whiskey business into Europe, said Lawson Whiting, the company’s president and CEO.