US trouble
Diageo’s total turnover reached 5.9 billion pounds (7.82 billion euro), a stable result for one of the world’s largest liquor manufacturers. The Guinness and Johnnie Walker distributor had to deal with particularly lousy results in its first quarter when turnover dropped 1.5 % compared to the year before. The second quarter somewhat managed to make up for that loss, with a 0.7 % turnover increase.
Despite the improved performance in the second quarter, CEO Ian Menezes remains cautious. The reason for his careful demeanor is how the emerging markets (like Venezuela, Russia, Nigeria) are currently performing below expectations.
Lower prices
Diageo’s American results (- 2 % in turnover) have also been lacking in the past semester, because of lower vodka sales. Nevertheless, the country still represents a third of the company’s turnover and is its most profitable region.
It still managed a 1.31 billion pound (1.74 billion euro) profit in its first six months, although that is 18 % lower than the year before. One of the reasons for the decline is that Diageo has been forced to lower its prices in certain markets to get rid of excess stock.
