MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Becle, the world's largest tequila producer, on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter profit down 21% from a year earlier, hit by a significant decline in its sales and volumes in the United States and Canada.
Cuervo, which makes the bulk of its sales from tequila but also produces a range of spirits such as Creyente mezcal, Stranahan's whiskey, Kraken rum and Boodles gin, reported a net profit of 1.55 billion pesos ($74.3 million), beating LSEG analysts' estimate of 1.28 billion pesos.
Revenue, meanwhile, landed at 12.9 billion pesos, below analysts' forecasts of 13.62 billion pesos.
The company's sales in foreign-exchange neutral terms in the U.S. and Canada were down around 25% in the quarter, while its volumes in the region decreased close to 20%, Becle said in a statement.
On potential tariffs to be imposed on Mexico by the U.S., the tequila maker said that any renegotiation of trade agreements or changes in foreign policy in the U.S. could affect imports and exports with Mexico, and adversely affect the company.
($1 = 20.8829 pesos at end-December)
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry)