Shareholders in drinks giant Diageo (DGE) will be looking to see if the alcoholic beverages company will be able to deliver on its promise of organic revenue growth in the mid single digits when it reports its full-year results next week, along with improvements to margins and cash generation. In May chief executive Ivan Menezes reiterated the company’s commitment to improving efficiency, which will allow Diageo to invest more in its key growth brands.
The spirits maker appears to be addressing previous concerns about weak American sales with the June acquisition of George Clooney’s tequila company Casamigos for $1bn (£0.77bn). The tequila brand sold 120,000 cases in 2016 primarily in the US, delivering a compound annualised growth rate of 54 per cent over the past two years. At the half year US sales were already showing improvement with growth in organic operating profit in North America coming in at 6 per cent, double consensus expectations.
