In the second quarter the “Global Priority Brands” a stable of eight big brands including Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, and Baileys reported a 1 per cent decline in sales while sales of other brands grew 7 per cent.
Among the priority brands, only Guinness had a good quarter, as weak consumer confidence ate into sales of premium products. CEO Paul Walsh said: “The performance of our standard priced brands has been stronger than that of our premium priced brands.”
Overall Diageo reported a 3 per cent increase in reported sales to £5.207bn for the first half of the year ending December 31. On a constant currency basis sales fell 2 per cent for the 6 month period.