Drinks giant Diageo sees share price slide after warning about sales in Caribbean and Latin AmericaLONDON (AP) — Spirits and beer giant Diageo PLC saw billions wiped off its market value on Friday after it warned that a sharp slowdown in its business in Latin America and the Caribbean was hitting sales and potential profits.
In early trading in London, the company's share price was down by 14% after it told investors that it expects growth in the first half of the current financial year to be slower than the previous half-year.
It blamed a “materially weaker” outlook in Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of “macroeconomic pressures" and customers downtrading to cheaper products. The region accounts for around 11% of Diageo's total sales.
That was a surprise for investors as the company, which counts Johnnie Walker whisky, Captain Morgan rum and Guinness among its stable of brands, had previously indicated a “gradual improvement” in sales growth.
The group highlighted that it still expects an improvement in growth in North America, while its businesses in Europe and Asia Pacific witnessed “continued momentum,” though slower than the previous half-year.
Debra Crew, chief executive of Diageo, also said it has also seen an impact from tensions in the Middle East and the conflict in Gaza.
“It has impacted results for the region since we have stopped trading in some parts," he said. “It is certainly not the largest part of Europe and Asia Pacific, but we have seen an impact since the tensions and it is weighing on consumer sentiment a little bit more broadly, but this has just been the last few weeks.”
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said Diageo has impenetrable brand power but that Friday's warning may stoke concerns that a "change in appetites could translate to other, larger markets.”
英國(AP) - 烈酒和啤酒巨頭帝亞吉歐有限公司(Diageo PLC)警告指出，拉丁美洲和加勒比地區業務急劇減緩，對銷售和潛在利潤產生不良影響，令其市值在周五蒸發了數十億美元。
在倫敦的早盤交易中，該公司的股價下跌了14%，因為它告訴投資者，它預計在本財政年上半年的增長將比前半年慢。
公司歸咎於拉丁美洲和加勒比地區的“宏觀經濟壓力”和客戶轉向更便宜的產品，導致該地區的前景“顯著疲弱”。該地區占帝亞吉歐總銷售的約11%。
對投資者來說，這是一個意外，因為這家公司的品牌組合中包括約翰尼沃克威士忌、摩根船長朗姆酒和金牌健力士等知名品牌，此前曾表示銷售增長呈現“逐漸改善”。
該集團強調，它仍然預期在北美的增長會有所改善，而歐洲和亞太地區的業務則出現“持續的動力”，儘管比前半年稍慢。
帝亞吉歐首席執行官德布拉·克魯(Debra Crew)還表示，中東的緊張局勢和加薩地帶的衝突也對公司產生了影響。
“這影響了該地區的業績，因為我們在一些地區停止了交易，”他說。“這當然不是歐洲和亞太地區的主要部分，但在這幾個星期內，我們看到了緊張局勢的影響，這在更廣泛的消費者情緒上帶來了一些壓力。”
Hargreaves Lansdown證券經紀公司的首席股票分析師蘇菲·倫德-雅茲(Sophie Lund-Yates)表示，帝亞吉歐具有強大的品牌力，但周五的警告可能引發擔憂，即“食慾變化可能會傳導到其他更大的市場”。
