- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Radhakrishna N S
BRITISH multinational alcoholic beverages company chief has urged the newly elected prime minister Boris Johnson to better support the British beverages exporters.
Diageo’s chief executive Ivan Menezes asked the UK prime minister to ensure that the drink businesses can continue to trade as freely as possible in and around the globe.
The boss of the Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Guinness maker was quoted by the Telegraph: The prime minister should also start “reducing the UK’s huge taxes on spirits on Scotch and gin where we have some of the highest taxes in the world.”
Menezes recalled the fact that Johnson had worked for Scotch around the globe earlier and the businesses urge him to continue to do so.
London head-quartered company is confident that it will continue to grow despite upcoming Brexit hurdles and prefer a deal to a no-deal Brexit.
Menezes has clearly stated that they are in favour of a deal.
Meanwhile, Diageo’s pre-tax profit jumped 13.2 per cent to £4.2 billion during the first half of the year. Total sales climbed 4.7 per cent to £19.3bn.
After recently completing a £3bn share buyback programme, the company said it would return a further £4.5bn to shareholders by 2022.
Diageo has performed well in recent years with strong sales growth of its brands. The company is expected to move on its growth track further.
The producer of Smirnoff, Guinness, and other products is also facing hurdles in the form of tariffs on some of its products by the US administration as part of the persisting trade war with the EU.
However, the company is confident that it could deal with any trade volatility in the future.
