20th Sep 2018 08:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Johnnie Walker whisky maker Diageo PLC said Thursday that it has made a good start to the financial year and annual sales are expected to be in line with the board's forecast of mid-single digit growth.
In his annual general meeting statement, Chief Executive Ivan Menezes said that the current year to June 2019 "started well and performance is in line with our expectations".
However, due to some increased market foreign exchange volatility, the company is forecasting a negative impact on net sales of GBP175 million and on operating profit of GBP45 million.
In 2018 financial year, net sales totaled GBP12.16 billion and operating profit came in at GBP3.69 billion.
Menezes said: "We are focused on delivering both growth and efficiency, allowing us to continue to reinvest in the business to support the long-term growth of our brands."
"We continue to expect to grow organic operating margins in line with our guidance of 175 basis points of margin expansion in the three years ending 30 June 2019," he added.
Diageo shares were trading down 0.1% at 2,610.00 pence each early Thursday morning.
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