By Michael SusinDiageo said profit for the first half of its fiscal 2024 fell, dragged by a sharp decline in sales at its Latin American and Caribbean divisions, which account for 11% of the company's revenue. In its first earnings release reported in dollars, the London-based maker of Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Guinness stout and Smirnoff vodka said Tuesday that it made a pretax profit of $3.08 billion for the six months ended Dec. 31 compared with $3.60 billion for the same period a year earlier. Organic net sales declined 0.6%, missing company-provided market expectations of a flat growth, and reflecting a volume decrease of 9%. "The decline in Latin America and Caribbean was driven by a strong double-digit net sales growth comparator as well as lower consumption and consumer downtrading due to macroeconomic pressures in the region," it said. Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com(END) Dow Jones NewswiresJanuary 30, 2024 02:34 ET (07:34 GMT)Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 30, 2024 13:45 UTC