A look at Diageo's announcement

Well, shares of my mecca dropped 7% earlier in the session and is now roughly 5.5% lower after it issued a cut to its annual profit forecast, thanks to the global economic slowdown (so much for the contention that booze does well in a recession). In addition, DEO forecast a slowdown in consumer spending throughout the year. The company cut its full-year growth forecast to a range of 4% to 6%, which some companies may like, but it was a major cut from its earlier range of 7% to 9%. The company's Chief Executive Paul Welsh noted that the "... economic trends indicate that consumer confidence will reduce further and the outlook for the second half is more difficult to predict."

This news accompanied the firm's earnings report, which saw the company announce a 16% increase in net profit to $1.63 billion (1.14 pounds). The Street expected earnings of 1.65 billion pounds, so we can't blame all of the drop on the lowered forecast. Net sales managed to increase over the six-month period, falling in line with expectations.

DEO's international region saw revenue increase 18% during the six months, but its top sales market (North America, helped in some part by me I am sure) saw sales revenue increase a disappointing 4%.