Drinks giant Diageo halts China travel amid coronavirus crisis

Drinks giant Diageo on Thursday said it has suspended travel to and from China amid the escalating coronavirus crisis, as it warned of volatility in global trade.

The firm behind Guinness and Smirnoff said it expects full-year sales growth to come in at the lower end of a 4%-6% range. It previously forecast it would be at the midpoint of that guidance.

It is grappling with a number of global headwinds: from an economic slowdown in India hitting demand, to anti-government protests in Hong Kong hurting sales there. It is also monitoring the coronavirus situation in China.

First-half sales rose 4.2% to £7.2 billion, despite “increased levels of volatility”, according to chief executive Ivan Menezes.

In the UK sales rose 2%. Dayalan Nayager, managing director of Diageo Great Britain, Ireland and France, said: “This was mainly driven by good performances from Guinness, which grew 6%, Baileys and Captain Morgan, partly offset by a decline in Gordon's on the back of strong innovation in the first half last year.”

Group pre-tax profits decreased to £2.5 billion from £2.6 billion.