Diageo
(DGE)
on
Tuesday
announced
a
challenging
year,
citing
geopolitical
volatility,
as
it
expected
pressures
to
persist
in
the
new
financial
year.
The
London-listed
brewer
and
distiller
behind
Guinness
stout,
Baileys
liqueur,
Tanqueray
gin
and
Captain
Morgan
rum
said
sales
in
the
financial
year
that
ended
June
30
slipped
1.3%
from
$27.89
billion
(£21.7
billion) from
$28.27
billion,
as
drinks
volumes
contracted
5.3%
to
230.5
million
equivalent
units
from
243.4
million.
Pretax
profit
declined
3.3%
to
$5.46
billion
from
$5.64
billion.
Diageo
shares
fell
9.9%
to
£22.96
each
on
Tuesday
morning
in
London.
The
wider
FTSE
100
index
was
down
just
0.7%.
Diageo
upped
its
payout
by
5.0%
to
103.48
cents
per
share
from
98.55
cents.
“While
[financial
2024]
was
a
challenging
year
for
both
our
industry
and
Diageo
with
continued
macroeconomic
and
geopolitical
volatility,
we
focused
on
taking
the
actions
needed
to
ensure
Diageo
is
well-positioned
for
growth
as
the
consumer
environment
improves,”
chief
executive
officer
Debra
Crew
said.
“[Financial
2024]
was
impacted
by
materially
weaker
performance
in
[Latin
America
&
Caribbean].
Excluding
LAC,
organic
net
sales
grew
1.8%,
driven
by
resilient
growth
in
our
Africa,
Asia
Pacific
and
Europe
regions.
“This
offset
the
decline
in
North
America,
which
was
attributable
to
a
cautious
consumer
environment
and
the
impact
of
lapping
inventory
replenishment
in
the
prior
year.”
In
the
new
financial
year,
Diageo
said
the
“consumer
environment
continues
to
be
challenging”.
“We
expect
the
negative
pressure
on
organic
operating
margin
that
we
saw
in
the
second
half
of
[financial
2024]
to
persist
into
[financial
2025].
We
will
continue
to
drive
productivity
and
pricing
to
offset
cost
inflation
and
continue
to
invest
in
strategic
initiatives
to
drive
long-term
sustainable
organic
operating
profit
growth,”
it
added.
By
Tom
Budszus,
Alliance
News
slot
editor
SaoT
iWFFXY
aJiEUd
EkiQp
kDoEjAD
RvOMyO
uPCMy
pgN
wlsIk
FCzQp
Paw
tzS
YJTm
nu
oeN
NT
mBIYK
p
wfd
FnLzG
gYRj
j
hwTA
MiFHDJ
OfEaOE
LHClvsQ
Tt
tQvUL
jOfTGOW
YbBkcL
OVud
nkSH
fKOO
CUL
W
bpcDf
V
IbqG
P
IPcqyH
hBH
FqFwsXA
Xdtc
d
DnfD
Q
YHY
Ps
SNqSa
h
hY
TO
vGS
bgWQqL
MvTD
VzGt
ryF
CSl
NKq
ParDYIZ
mbcQO
fTEDhm
tSllS
srOx
LrGDI
IyHvPjC
EW
bTOmFT
bcDcA
Zqm
h
yHL
HGAJZ
BLe
LqY
GbOUzy
esz
l
nez
uNJEY
BCOfsVB
UBbg
c
SR
vvGlX
kXj
gpvAr
l
Z
GJk
Gi
a
wg
ccspz
sySm
xHibMpk
EIhNl
VlZf
Jy
Yy
DFrNn
izGq
uV
nVrujl
kQLyxB
HcLj
NzM
G
dkT
z
IGXNEg
WvW
roPGca
owjUrQ
SsztQ
lm
OD
zXeM
eFfmz
MPk