Celebrity-backed spirit brands steal the spotlight Whisky Whisky Business: City AM’s monthly look at the world of whisky. According to research conducted by the Financial Times, five of the biggest listed alcohol producers, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Campari, Brown Forman and Rémy Cointreau, are sitting on $22bn worth of ageing spirits, the highest level of inventory in more than a decade. This growing pool [...]
Guinness Index: How much is a pint of the black stuff in your borough? Hospitality While the ONS has added hummus and dog grooming to its sample shopping basket in a bid to move with the times when tracking inflation – City AM prefers a cooler metric: the Guinness Index. Nothing encapsulates British consumer habits like Guinness’ meteoric rise: taking stout from the preserve of grey-haired aficionados to an ever-present [...]
Diageo subsidiary pockets £1.3bn from sale of Indian cricket team Sport Business A subsidiary of Diageo has pocketed £1.3bn from the sale of its Indian cricket team as the drinks giant divests assets to focus on its core business. The FTSE 100 firm acquired Indian team Royal Challengers just over a decade ago as part of its acquisition of a majority stake in United Spirits, an Indian [...]
Analysis: Could £1bn IPL RCB cricket windfall begin Diageo’s comeback? March 20, 2026 It’s been a tough few months for Diageo – and a tough few years for Diageo shareholders. The London-listed drinks giant has seen its share price melt away amid a slump in demand for premium spirits, rising production costs and a flurry of tariffs from across the pond. The stock is already down by an [...]
Not-so-drastic Dave: Diageo boss defies expectations of slash-and-burn reign February 25, 2026 ‘Drastic Dave’ Lewis, who gained a reputation for cost-cutting and ruthless rationalisation during his time at Unilever and Tesco, was more ‘demure Dave’ when announcing Diageo’s first results of his tenure as chief executive. The spirits giant has been struggling in recent years, with its share price down 22 per cent year-on-year – and Lewis’ [...]
Diageo slashes dividend as ‘Drastic Dave’ takes charge February 25, 2026 Guinness maker Diageo has slashed its dividend as the cost-cutting regime of new chief executive ‘drastic’ Dave Lewis begins to take hold, prompting a share price spook. The board announced the “difficult” decision to cut its dividend to 20 cents to “accelerate the strengthening” of its balance sheet in its interim results, the first financial [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Index hits record as HSBC, St James’s stock rally February 25, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. There’s a number of factors weighing on global markets at the moment, and yet the FTSE 100 was able to close Tuesday’s session unscathed. It came despite President Donald Trump’s new 10 per cent tariffs coming into effect, sending some jitters across global indexes. But [...]
‘Drastic’ Dave to serve up new vision for Guinness maker Diageo February 22, 2026 It’s been a rocky 12 months for drinks titan Diageo and Sir Dave Lewis will be looking to cure the firm’s long-running hangover when he serves up his future vision next week. Diageo’s stock has tumbled over 15 per cent in the last 12 months with a notable drop in November after operating profit growth [...]
Diageo, Burberry rally after Trump tariff ruling February 20, 2026 Shares in two of the FTSE 100’s biggest retailers rallied on Friday afternoon after it was revealed President Trump’s sweeping global tariff regime had been struck down by the top US court. Burberry shares ended the day’s trading session up 3.2 per cent to 1,212p, while Diageo jumped 3.9 per cent to 1,851p after the [...]
Mind the G: Guinness takes over tube platforms in TfL brand deal February 11, 2026 Commuters with sore heads and a creeping sense of dread may fear they’ve seen a mirage when alighting from the Northern Line platforms at Tottenham Court Road for the next week. Eleven tube route maps in the station have been temporarily resigned to mimic a pint of Guinness in Transport for London’s (TfL) latest advertising [...]