After Tough H1, Diageo Expects Improvements in H2

Dear Client:Diageo chief Paul Walsh deemed the 6 months to December 31 "challenging" as the "economic and consumer environment remained weak in many markets and we faced a difficult comparison against Q1 last year." Although Q1 results were less than impressive, Q2 "did show a return to growth." First quarter sales dropped -6%, while the second quarter saw improvements with 2% gains. This was partly due to continued stock reduction in all regions. However, Paul said "we are in the