PARIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - French spirits maker Pernod Ricard
, which is being targeted by activist investor Elliott,
posted a 1.3% rise in first-quarter underlying sales, reflecting
slower growth rates in China and India.
In August Pernod, the world's second-biggest spirits group
behind Diageo, had indicated it expected a relatively
soft first quarter, citing a very high year-ago comparison basis
in Asia.
For the first quarter ended Sept. 30, Pernod reported sales
of 2.483 billion euros ($2.75 billion), marking a like-for-like
rise of 1.3%. This compared with a growth rate of 10.4% in the
year-ago quarter.
The owner of Mumm champagne, Absolut vodka and Martell
cognac said that despite an uncertain environment, it was
keeping its forecast for a 5-7% organic rise in full-year profit
from recurring operations after last year's 8.7% growth.
($1 = 0.9030 euros)
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)