Diageo reports 2H reported net sales $20.3B, down 1.4% vs. $20.56B last year

Reported net sales of $20.3B declined 1.4% due to an unfavorable foreign exchange impact and organic net sales decline, partially offset by hyperinflation adjustments. Reported operating profit grew 8.2% and reported operating profit margin grew 262bps. Operating profit of $6B compares to $5.55B last year and EPS of 173.2c compares to 196.3c last year. CEO Debra Crew said: “While fiscal 24 was a challenging year for both our industry and Diageo with continued macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, we focused on taking the actions needed to ensure Diageo is well-positioned for growth as the consumer environment improves. Fiscal 24 was impacted by materially weaker performance in LAC. Excluding LAC, organic net sales grew 1.8%, driven by resilient growth in our Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe regions. This offset the decline in North America, which was attributable to a cautious consumer environment and the impact of lapping inventory replenishment in the prior year… We are confident that when the consumer environment improves, the actions we are taking will return us to growth.”