When is the post-lockdown hangover going to ease up? For Diageo, it is a headache made worse by inflation dulling consumer spending. The heady rise in sales, boosted by demand for premium spirits by cooped-up consumers flush with cash has come thudding down. Volumes fell by just under 1 per cent over the latest 12 months, after a 10 per cent jump the year before.
The party was never going to last. Like other large consumer goods companies, Diageo has been forced to balance hefty inflation with maintaining demand. Price inflation and a further shift towards premium spirits pushed the top line forward by 6.5 per cent on an organic basis, a touch better than the 6.4 per cent analysts had expected.
Diageo is
