Guinness and Johnnie Walker drinks giant Diageo has cut its outlook once again and slashed the firm’s shareholder dividend payout as new boss Sir Dave Lewis said the group needed to “act more decisively” to boost its flagging performance.
The former Tesco chief executive – who took on the role at the start of the year – said there was “significant work ahead” in turning Diageo around as the group reported a 2.8% drop in underlying operating profits to 3.26 billion dollars (£2.4 billion) for the six months to December 31 as underlying sales also fell 2.8%.
