Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) has announced its Fiscal 26 Q3 trading statement
Strong growth in Europe, LAC and Africa, all up at least high-single-digit, offset by weakness in North America. Fiscal 26 guidance reiterated.
| Q3 ended 31 March 2026 | 9 months ended 31 March 2026 | ||||||||
| ReportedF26$m | ReportedF25$m | Reported growthYoY % | Organic growthYoY % | ReportedF26$m | ReportedF25$m | Reported growthYoY % | Organic growthYoY % | ||
| Net sales | 4,477 | 4,376 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 14,937 | 15,277 | (2.2) | (1.9) | |
| Volume | 0.4 | (0.5) | |||||||
| Price/mix | – | – | – | (0.1) | – | – | – | (1.4) | |
· Q3 reported net sales increased 2.3% to $4.5bn, reflecting a positive hyperinflation adjustment, partially offset by the impact of disposals and limited impact from foreign exchange.
· Organic net sales grew 0.3% in the quarter; volume +0.4% and price/mix -0.1%.
· Strong organic net sales growth was delivered in Europe, LAC and Africa with some benefit from Easter timing and advance sales ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. In North America, organic net sales declined high-single-digit reflecting continued US Spirits weakness. Asia Pacific net sales declined slightly with weakness in Chinese white spirits (CWS) offsetting low-single-digit growth in international premium spirits, and with the latter benefiting from later timing of Chinese New Year (CNY).
· Accelerate programme on track to deliver c.$300m savings by end of fiscal 26.
· USL announced the sale of its RCB business on 24 March 2026 and the disposal of our shareholding in EABL is expected to complete in calendar H2 2026.1 These transactions will support reducing leverage and increasing financial flexibility.
· Fiscal 26 guidance unchanged from fiscal 26 H1 results.
Sir Dave Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are pleased with the strong growth across Europe, LAC and Africa. North America remains our biggest challenge, where market conditions are soft and our offer needs to be more competitive. Actions are already underway to address this.
Progress on the re-design of our new strategy and the shaping of a more competitive operating framework is well underway. We are on track to share a Strategy Update with shareholders alongside our fiscal 26 full-year results on 6 August 2026.
While we are mindful of continued geopolitical uncertainty, including the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on energy, supply and distribution; we are reiterating our fiscal 26 guidance.”
1. United Spirits Limited (USL), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) & East African Breweries plc (EABL).
Quarterly financials are unaudited. See pages 5-6 for an explanation and reconciliation of non-GAAP measures. Unrounded financials – due to rounding, the numbers in this and other tables in this release may not always cast or calculate. Unless otherwise noted, commentary throughout this release refers to organic net sales movement for third quarter ended 31 March 2026 compared to the third quarter ended 31 March 2025.
Fiscal 26 full-year outlook unchanged from fiscal 26 H1 results:
Organic net sales – down 2-3%.
Organic operating profit growth – flat to up low-single-digit including c.$300m savings from Accelerate and the impact of tariffs shared previously.
Taxation – tax rate before exceptional items c.25% (fiscal 25: 24.9%).
Effective interest rate – effective interest rate c.4.0% (fiscal 25: 4.1%).
Capital expenditure – at the lower end of the range of $1.2-1.3 billion (fiscal 25: $1.5 billion).
Free cash flow – $3 billion (fiscal 25: $2.7 billion), including exceptional items related to Accelerate but excluding c.$100 million one-off impact for inventory build at year end to cover implementation of the SAP S/4 HANA ERP system in early fiscal 27.
Live presentation and Q&A conference call
Sir Dave Lewis, Chief Executive Officer and Nik Jhangiani, Chief Financial Officer will host a short presentation followed by Q&A at 9.30am UKT (10.30am CET) on Wednesday 6 May 2026, which can be accessed at: https://www.investis-live.com/diageo/69c268d9dc51410011ba8af8/mqlzw
For analysts and investors wishing to ask questions, please use the dial-in details below which will have a Q&A facility. Please dial in 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time to register before the call begins.
| From the UK: | +44 (0)20 3936 2999 |
| From the UK (free call): | 0808 189 0158 |
| From the USA: | +1 646 233 4753 |
| From the USA (free call): | +1 855 979 6654 |
| Access code: | 662719 |
Transcript and audio recording
Following the presentation and Q&A conference call, a transcript and audio recording can be accessed at:
https://www.diageo.com/en/investors/results-reports-and-events/results
Presentation slides and transcript
Following the presentation, slides and a transcript will be made available.
