Diageo withdraws full-year forecast, halts capital returns programme

Diageo Plc, the world's largest spirits maker, said on Thursday it would withdraw outlook on its sales and operating profit growth and suspend capital returns programme for the rest of the year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Given the global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the uncertainty around the severity and duration of the impact across multiple markets, we are not in a position to accurately assess the impact of this on our future financial performance," the company said in a statement.