Surging demand for bourbon and tequila from US consumers helped Diageo to push up underlying net sales in the six months to December, as the drinks maker defied expectations of a decline in revenues.
The maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness said net sales growth, measured on an organic basis, was 1 per cent in the half-year period, defying expectations of a 4.6 per cent drop.
That was aided by strong sales of Don Julio and Casamigos tequilas and Bulleit bourbon through US retail stores, the company said, along with a recovery in China.
In North America, its largest market, sales jumped 12.3 per cent on an organic basis despite the coronavirus pandemic, a performance that analysts at RBC Capital Markets called “extraordinary”.
Operating profit was down 8.3 per cent to £2.2bn from a year earlier, however. Margins were squeezed with fewer sales through higher-margin channels such as bars and travel retail, as the pandemic forced consumers to…