Diageo sees unexpected increase in Q3 growth under new CEO

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 07 May, 2026

Diageo has released its Q3 (ending 31 March 2026) trading statement, detailing a +0.3% organic growth in net sales and +0.4% organic growth in volume year-on-year. This coincides with Diageo’s new CEO Sir Dave Lewis’ first full quarter in the role, having taken the helm on 1 January 2026.

This growth comes despite despite continued weakness in the North American (with organic net sales down -9.4%) and Asian (down -0.8%) markets during Q3.

Overall, the business' year-on-year organic sales in the 9 months to 31 March declined by -1.9%, which is itself an improvement on Diageo’s H1 performance, where a year-on-year contraction of -2.8% was recorded (as Harpers reported).

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Lewis – nicknamed ‘Drastic Dave’ due to his penchant for cost-cutting initiatives – was announced as CEO in November 2025, following declines in Diageo’s operating profits.

Brought in to help the company adapt to an evolving consumer environment, in his Q3 trading statement he noted that “progress on the re-design of our new strategy and the shaping of a more competitive operating framework is well underway”.

He added that he was “pleased with the strong growth across Europe, LAC and Africa”, which saw year-on-year organic sales growth of +8.8%, +16.2%, +17.1%, respectively.

Diageo said that this growth was aided by both the timing of Easter and buy-in before the FIFA World Cup (which starts on 11 June).

Additionally, Guinness sales in Great Britain and Ireland help to contribute to organic net sales growth in Europe.

Meanwhile, Diageo said that the severity of the decline in North America was a reflection of organic net sales for US spirits falling -15.4%, with Lewis noting that “North America remains our biggest challenge, where market conditions are soft and our offer needs to be more competitive”.

He added that “actions are already underway to address this”.

The more subdued contraction in the Asian market was driven by weakness in Greater China, with a double-digit decline in Chinese white spirits completely offsetting low-single digit growth in international premium spirits across the region.

Looking to the future, Lewis said: “While we are mindful of continued geopolitical uncertainty, including the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on energy, supply and distribution; we are reiterating our fiscal 26 guidance.”

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