Deflated by the perfectly irrational speculative excesses seen during the pandemic, the valuation of the group owning the Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness franchises, among others, is back on its average of twenty times earnings, in other words, the level it has occupied for the last twenty years.

The ten-year cycle now drawing to a close will have seen Diageo double its sales and profits, thanks in particular to a series of changes in perimeter - acquisitions and divestitures - and to a new business model.of acquisitions and disposals - intelligently implemented during the tenure of the charismatic Ivan Menezes, who passed away last June.

This enabled the Group to return almost all the profits made over the period - $31 billion - to shareholders via sustained dividends and share buy-backs, while financial performance - margins, profitability, etc. - remained metronomic. - remained metronomic.

With her highly operational profile, newly-appointed CEO Debra Crew comes to the job with a very clear mandate: to improve cash flow and turn around the North American market - the compression of the former stemming largely from setbacks in the latter.