Diageo H1 Profit Climbs - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - British drinks giant Diageo Plc (DGE.L, DEO) posted higher first-half profit attributable to equity shareholders of the parent company of 1.6 billion pounds, versus 1.52 billion pounds, a year before. Pre-tax profit for the period advanced to 2.13 billion pounds, from 1.93 billion pounds in the 2012 period.

Half-yearly earnings per share amounted to 63.5 pence, an increase from the prior year's 60.4 pence.

Sales for the six months totaled 8.01 billion pounds, compared with restated 8.13 billion pounds last year; with first-half net sales rising 1.8% year-on-year to 5.93 billion pounds, from 5.98 billion pounds.

Commenting on the outlook, Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive said: "We do expect some top line improvement in the second half and our focus across the business on the six key performance drivers means that even though some markets may remain challenging, this business is in good shape for the medium and long term and we remain committed to achieving our performance ambition."