Halfway figures from Diageo are, on the face of it, not terribly good. Volumes, the amount of booze sold, are down by 3 per cent, actual revenues by 5 per cent and operating profits by 3 per cent in the six months to the end of December. This caps a difficult couple of years since Paul Walsh, the former chief executive, left.
Diageo has been hit by the curb on giving spirits as gifts in China, the general slowdown in emerging markets and disappointing trading in North America, a third of the total. Here, the hit has been on two fronts. A move to more “authentic” spirits hit sales of its mid-market brands, including Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. Meanwhile, a price war in vodka and