New tequila from Diageo?

Diageo boss Paul Walsh has suggested that the company could launch its own tequila brand. He revealed the news after he was questioned about the surprise pull-out from the Jose Cuervo deal last year, which would have seen Diageo taking a slice of the company. He said, “An organic play is the best entry into the tequila category for us. The main thrust of our attention will be the creation of our brand, not dissimilar to what we have done with Ciroc,” His revelations followed the unveiling of the company’s results which showed group sales rose 5% to £6.03 bn from £5.75bn, while underlying group operating profits advanced 9% to £2.02bn from £1.86bn.
The results also revealed that in the six months to December, its whisky sales rose 11%, with Scotch whisky, accounting for 81% of the category’s growth.
Commenting on Diageo Great Britain, Andrew Cowan, Country Director, said, “Diageo Great Britain (GB) successfully continued the execution of its strategy to drive positive price mix into the GB business. When combined with continuing tough trading conditions, this has resulted in net sales being flat across GB. However, Diageo’s share remains strong, at 32.9% of the Total Trade (MAT w.e. 03.11.12 (on trade) 10.11.12 (off trade)).”
There was no news on the progress of the regulatory probe into Diageo’s $2.1bn (£1.3bn) acquisition of a majority stake in India’s biggest spirits company United Spirits.