Drinks firm suffers

GUINNESS and Johnnie Walker whisky owner Diageo will take a £45m hit on full-year profits due to volatile currency movements in countries such as Argentina and Turkey.

The drinks giant, which also owns Smirnoff vodka, admitted sales were likely to fall by £175m as a result of the fluctuations. Currencies in emerging markets have struggled against a stronger US dollar with Turkey’s lira losing 44pc of its value in the last year.

But Ivan Menezes, Diageo chief executive, insisted: ‘The year has started well and performance is in line with our expectations.’