Finance
Diageo withdraws medium-term goals as tariffs cloud outlook
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 4, 2025
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(Reuters) -DIAGEO-RESULTS-d958c858-8700-4393-9951-19bfdc8be960>Diageo withdrew its medium-term organic sales growth target on Tuesday as the world's top spirits maker took steps to try and mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs.
The maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer had previously forecast medium-term organic net sales growth of 5% to 7%. It said it had scrapped the forecast because macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty were hurting the pace of its recovery.
CEO Debra Crew said tariffs in the U.S. announced over the weekend added to "further complexity in our ability to provide updated forward guidance".
Over the weekend U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, although on Monday he agreed a 30-day pause on the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. China hit back on Tuesday with tariffs of its own on some U.S. goods.
DIAGEO-RESULTS-d958c858-8700-4393-9951-19bfdc8be960>Diageo said there were a number of possible actions it could take to help mitigate the impact of tariffs including pricing, inventory management, re-allocation of investments and supply chain optimisation.
"We will ... continue to engage with the U.S. administration on the broader impact that this will have on ...consumers, employees, distributors, restaurants, bars and other retail outlets," Crew said in a statement.
The company said its tequila made in Mexico and exported into the United States would be the most hit by U.S. tariffs. It would also see a hit on its Canadian whisky that it exports to the U.S.
DIAGEO-RESULTS-d958c858-8700-4393-9951-19bfdc8be960>Diageo said its organic sales grew 1% in July-December 2024, beating a 0.4% increase expected by analysts in a company-compiled poll.
Investors had expected new finance chief DIAGEO-RESULTS-TARIFFS-dd6a5047-b086-4acc-8839-d1d4a8b3dd86>Nik Jhangiani, who took office in September, to row back the company's medium-term sales target given falling sales across the alcoholic beverages sector.
Consumers have remained cautious and the macroeconomic recovery is taking longer than expected, particularly in North America and China, DIAGEO-RESULTS-d958c858-8700-4393-9951-19bfdc8be960>Diageo said.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Susan Fenton)