Diageo 2018 final results
Reported net sales (£12.2 billion) and operating profit (£3.7 billion) were up 0.9% and 3.7%, respectively, as organic growth was partially offset by adverse exchange
All regions contributed to broad based organic growth, with organic net sales up 5.0% and organic volume up 2.5%
Organic operating profit was up 7.6%, improving organic operating margins by 78 basis points, as higher marketing investment was more than offset by efficiencies from our productivity programme
Cash flow continued to be strong, broadly in line with last year, with £3.1 billion net cash from operating activities and £2.5 billion free cash flow
Basic eps of 121.7 pence was up 14.8%. Pre-exceptional eps was 118.6 pence, up 9.3%, principally due to higher organic operating profit
On 26 July the Board approved a share buyback programme to return up to £2.0 billion to shareholders during the year ending 30 June 2019
The board recommended a final dividend increase of 5% bringing the full year dividend to 65.3 pence per share
