Diageo Q1 Organic Net Sales Up 3.1% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Drinks giant Diageo Plc (DEO, DGE.L) reported a 3.1% growth in organic net sales with volume up by 0.6% in the first quarter. On a reported basis, net sales were flat for the quarter, chiefly reflecting the termination of the distribution agreement for Jose Cuervo.

In the September quarter, organic net sales growth, by region, was 5.1% in North America, 1.3% in Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey, 10.9% in Latin America and Caribbean, and 0.6% in Asia Pacific, while it was down by 1.1% in Western Europe.

Commenting on the quarter, the firm said, "Consumer trends are broadly unchanged from the prior year and the US spirits business remains the key driver of performance for Diageo North America. Strong performance from Cîroc, Crown Royal and Ketel One vodka again contributed to mix improvement. Underlying trends in Western Europe remain unchanged from those seen in the final quarter of the prior year, however performance in the quarter did benefit from some restocking in France. Performance in the Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey region was impacted by a decline in net sales in Russia in comparison to a very strong first quarter in the prior year."

Looking ahead, Diageo's Chief Executive said: "Our performance in the quarter was good given weakness in some markets. The strength of our biggest business, US spirits, underpinned our performance. Our business in Western Europe performed in line with the slightly improving trends we saw in Q4 of F13, although I still expect a low single digit net sales decline for the full year."