Diageo slashes dividend and vows to address Guinness shortage in London
Diageo has slashed its dividend and cut its annual sales and profit forecast for the second time in four months, as the maker of Guinness warned of capacity constraints affecting drinkers of “the black stuff” in London pubs.The world’s largest spirits maker – which owns brands including Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Don Julio tequila – lost more than £5bn of its market value on Wednesday as it reported weak demand in the US and China in the first results released under the new chief executive, Sir Dave Lewis.The former Tesco chief executive, who earned the nickname “Drastic Dave” as a result of his cost-cutting during almost three decades at the conglomerate Unilever, took the reins at Diageo in January and wasted no time in cutting the company’s shareholder dividend in his attempt to turn around the drinks maker.Describing his first seven weeks in the role as “pretty intense”, Lewis said in a results webcast it had not been a simple choice to reduce the dividend, halving it to 20 cents a share, down from 40.5 cents a year ago.
“This is not an easy decision to make, but we believe it is the right one.The North American market is challenged,” Lewis said.“Our portfolio needs some time and investment to make it more competitive.At the same time, we need to invest in our business, specifically in its capacity and capability.”Lewis has joined London-based Diageo at a time when it is struggling with the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs, squeezed household finances and consumer shifts, amid the rise in use of GLP-1 weight loss jabs and lifestyle changes as many younger people choose to drink little or no alcohol.
His appointment, after a four-month recruitment drive by the company, followed the abrupt resignation last July of Debra Crew, during whose tenure Diageo struggled with lacklustre performance and investor disquiet.Diageo’s shares were boosted after the announcement of Lewis’s appointment last November but dropped by nearly 13% on Wednesday, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.It came as the company said it expected organic sales to fall between 2% and 3% in 2026, while it forecast its organic operating profit to remain flat.Lewis said consumption of Diageo’s spirits remained fairly stable despite the use of GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy but added that consumers were increasingly choosing to have fewer drinks each time they indulged.“It’s the serves-per-occasion where we see the change,” Lewis said.
“What you see is a very significant squeeze on disposable income,”The company intends to respond to squeezed consumer finances by offering smaller packs, Lewis said,Pressure on consumer finances has also resulted in US drinkers buying less tequila, particularly Diageo’s Don Julio and Casamigos brands, as they opted instead for cheaper options,Praising Guinness as a “phenomenal asset”, which Lewis said was the fastest-growing beer brand in North America, he said it continued to face challenges,“If you’ve tried to buy a pint in London, you also know that we have some capacity constraints, too.
This capacity and geographical constraint is an issue that we need to address, and quickly,” he said.Guinness, once viewed as an “old man’s drink”, has soared in popularity on social media in recent years, and has been adopted by younger drinkers and female celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo.However, soaring sales left the company at times unable to meet demand, and supply problems have persisted, especially in London, where Diageo opened a Guinness experience venue in late 2025.It expects to welcome half a million visitors this year.Dan Coatsworth, the head of markets at the broker AJ Bell, said: “Guinness is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy update and means Diageo’s results aren’t a complete mess.
“Lewis must like a spectacular challenge, as it was clear from the day he was offered the job that it wouldn’t be easy,Fixing Diageo is like turning around an oil tanker – a very slow process,”
Public health advocates say more transparency needed in debate over illicit tobacco as industry links questioned
A former Australian Border Force officer who has positioned himself before government inquiries as Australia’s “foremost law enforcement expert” on illicit tobacco also advises nicotine industry-linked organisations – leading public health advocates to argue more transparency is needed.Rohan Pike, who spent more than two decades in law enforcement and now runs a consultancy, has become a prominent media commentator on the illicit tobacco trade, promoting policies that align with those supported by the tobacco industry.Those positions include opposing further excise increases on cigarettes and pushing for the legalisation of nicotine pouches.In May, he was appointed as an illicit-trade adviser to the Global Institute for Novel Nicotine Products (GINN), a UK-based trade association representing manufacturers of alternative nicotine products, including pouches and “heat not burn” nicotine products. Pike said he does not receive funding or payment from GINN
France’s Engie strikes deal to buy UK Power Networks for £10.5bn
A French utility has agreed to buy the owner of the electricity cables and power lines across London, the south-east and the east of England in a deal worth £10.5bn.Paris-headquartered Engie said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to buy UK Power Networks (UKPN) in a “major milestone” for the company’s ambition to become the “best energy transition utility”.Engie will buy the electricity network operator, which operates about 192,000km of power lines serving 8.5 million customers across London and southern and eastern England, from a Hong Kong-based conglomerate founded by billionaire business magnate Li Ka-shing, which has owned UKPN for the past 15 years
Top US body-camera maker reports record revenue amid Trump immigration crackdown
The largest body-camera maker in the US celebrated its latest financial results on Tuesday – reporting record revenue and forecasting major growth – as it prepares to cash in on the Department of Homeland Security’s planned rapid acquisition and deployment of these devices nationwide.In Tuesday’s earnings presentation, body-camera maker Axon, which also makes the well-known Taser device, announced that it blew past Wall Street expectations with $797m in revenue, up 39% year-over-year.The company attributed its growth to the offerings of its “AI era plan”, which includes a voice-activated companion for its body cameras. Executives also outlined a “major opportunity” for working with federal law enforcement in the year to come, in particular: body cameras and software licenses for the DHS.Asked by investors about his biggest worries, CEO Rick Smith said: “A misstep around privacy and data handling
Meta’s AI sending ‘junk’ tips to DoJ, US child abuse investigators say
Meta’s use of artificial intelligence software to moderate its social media platforms is generating large volumes of useless reports about cases of child sexual abuse, which are draining resources and hindering investigations, said officers from the US Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce.“We get a lot of tips from Meta that are just kind of junk,” Benjamin Zwiebel, a special agent with the ICAC taskforce in New Mexico, said last week during his testimony in the state’s trial against Meta. The state’s attorney general alleges the company’s platforms are putting profits over child safety. Meta disputes these allegations, citing changes it has introduced on its platforms, such as teen accounts with default protections. The ICAC taskforce is a nationwide network of law enforcement agencies coordinated with the US Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute online child exploitation and abuse cases
English cricket’s hunger for Indian money has led it into a moral and legal minefield | Barney Ronay
The thing about inviting a tiger round for tea is, for all the excitement, the fur, the teeth, the muscles, they do tend to walk off with your dinner and drink all the water in the taps. The thing about saying yes to the person with the biggest stick is, in the end, you don’t get to say yes, or no, or anything at all. And that person still has a very big stick.The thing about closing your eyes and just taking the money is: money passes only in exchange for something of value, and full payment will be taken. Welcome to English cricket in full blind, groping crisis mode, and the first small tremor of what lies in store whatever happens in the next few weeks
Steve Borthwick turns to 2003 World Cup heroes for Six Nations inspiration
Steve Borthwick has turned to England’s 2003 World Cup winners to arrest his side’s drastic decline after enduring another setback with the scrum‑half Alex Mitchell ruled out for the rest of the Six Nations.Borthwick’s squad were due on Wednesday night to have dinner with members of the 2003 team, including the captain Martin Johnson, the Test centurion Jason Leonard and Lewis Moody, who revealed in October that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.Borthwick urged his players to use the opportunity to ask how they dealt with setbacks, after England’s Six Nations hopes went up in smoke for another year with the dismal 42-21 defeat against Ireland last Saturday, seven days after they were outclassed by Scotland.Borthwick is under renewed pressure as a result and will lead England into their final two matches against Italy in Rome and France in Paris without Mitchell, who sustained a hamstring injury against Ireland. Jack van Poortvliet is standing by for the No 9 jersey while Ollie Lawrence has had a knee injection and is a doubt for the Italy match
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