CNBC UK Exchange: Diageo’s turnaround test

On Jan. 4, 2022, shares of Diageo hit an all-time high, making it the FTSE 100 ‘s third most valuable company, with a stock market value of nearly £90 billion (roughly $121 billion). The world’s biggest spirits company, whose brands include Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Smirnoff vodka, Tanqueray gin, Captain Morgan rum, Don Julio tequila and Guinness stout, has since seen its share price more than halve as its fortunes have waned. The company enjoyed astonishing sales growth during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when households discovered the joys of cocktail-making. But this slowed as inflation ate into disposable incomes after Russia’s…