Diageo PLC has removed medium-term guidance as it warned over the impact of tariffs by the US on Mexico and Canada.
Firmed up by Donald Trump in recent days, tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports were set to come into force on Tuesday but were later delayed for a month as deals were in the offing.
Diageo flagged that looming tariffs threatened to impact momentum in the US, where it had outperformed the market in the first half of its financial year.
“It also adds further complexity in our ability to provide updated forward guidance given this is a new and dynamic situation,” the company said in interim results for the six months to end-December.
“We are taking a number of actions to mitigate the impact and disruption to our business that tariffs may cause, and we will also continue to engage with the US administration.”
Diageo also unveiled a 0.6% decline in net sales to US$10.9 billion (£8.8 billion) and 5% drop in reported operating profit to US$3.12 billion for the half year, as a flat US$40.50 per share dividend was declared.
Growth was said to have been seen in four of its five regions, with the strength of its Don Julio and Crown Royal brands in the US flagged, alongside double-digit Guinness sales growth.
“We remain confident of favourable long-term industry fundamentals and more importantly in our ability to outperform the market,” chief executive Debra Crew said.
“We are already seeing early benefits from changes in our US route-to-market transformation.”