Diageo today announced a net sales growth of 5% in the U.S. spirits market and an operating profit growth of 8%, driven by 0.8 percentage points of margin expansion. Marketing investments were up 5%, to 15.7% of net sales, focusing on the strategic brands. Diageo reports strong performance in North America with net sales up 5% and operating profit up 9%.

Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo

Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive said, “These results reflect Diageo’s strengths. We have delivered 5% net sales growth reflecting the strength of our US spirits business and continued double digit growth in the emerging markets, despite weakness in some markets. Price increases in each region, positive mix in North America and Latin America and the rigour we have in managing our cost of production and controlling our overheads drove significant expansion in operating margin.”