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08 Jul 2025
Goodbody - Diageo; FY25 preview: Unlikely to be a catalyst but will highlight scope of self-help potential
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Goodbody - Diageo; FY25 preview: Unlikely to be a catalyst but will highlight scope of self-help potential
Diageo plc (DGE:LON) | 1,798 -440.5 (-1.3%) | Mkt Cap: 40,031m
- Published:
08 Jul 2025 -
Author:
Shane Carberry | Kate McCarthy | LuLu Xu | Patrick Higgins | Fintan Ryan | Patrick O'Donnell -
Pages:
6 -
Modest changes to forecasts for FY25/FY26
We update our DGE model ahead of its FY25 results on 5 August, mainly to update for FX. We keep our EPS estimates largely unchanged, modelling $1.63 for FY25, -9% yoy (+1.3% organic sales, -1.2% organic EBIT) and $1.70 for FY26, +4% yoy (+2.3%/+3.0%, margin +20bp). Now trading on just 15x cal.26 P/E and 12x EV/EBITDA, DGE screens as good value vs. its historical 18x P/E. Acknowledging the soft current external data (e.g. Nielsen), the market will likely want to see signs of delivery before fully giving credit to the self-help re-rating story.
Divisional drivers – forecasts p.3
For H2 FY25, we model +1.7% organic sales growth (NorAm +0.5%, Europe -0.9%, APAC +1.0%), implying Q4 -1.8% (NorAm -4.6%, Europe -1.2%, APAC +0.4%). Q3 +5.9% organic sales was helped by a c.4ppt tailwind from phasing, mainly in Americas (NorAm +6.2%, Europe -0.4%, APAC +1.6%). Given some investments in Europe and NorAm, guidance is for a slight decline in organic EBIT in H2, similar to the -1.2% in H1 – we model -1.1% with margins -70bp yoy.
FY results to provide clarity on direction of travel, not firm catalyst
We recently upgraded DGE to Buy, arguing that the -25% sell-off ytd is over-done with the scope of self-help benefits (both on margins and cash/debt) under appreciated. Given the widespread macro uncertainty (including tariffs), we don’t expect the FY results to be a catalyst per se. We do hope that management provide: i) further colour on the scope and phasing of the $500m Accelerate cost savings plan to be delivered by FY28; ii) the drivers of the minimum $3bn FCF from FY26 onwards (FY25 GBYe $2.2bn); and iii) a reiteration of the confidence in driving de-leverage to the bottom end of the target 2.5-3.0x leverage range by the end of FY28 (FY25 guidance 3.3-3.5x; GBYe 3.3x).