IN OCTOBER 2021, months after Hina Nagarajan took over as MD of Diageo India, she released a mission statement: the company will become a top performing consumer product company delivering sustainable, profitable, double-digit topline growth and long-term value. Three years hence, Nagarajan has every reason to smile. Diageo India is debt-free and declared dividend in FY24, a first after acquisition of USL in FY14. Market cap has nearly doubled from ₹45,000 crore in 2021 to ₹82,500 crore this year. “We accelerated premiumisation. Last year, our prestige portfolio grew 12%. Prestige contributes 87.4% to portfolio. Almost 75% growth is coming from the top half of the portfolio,” says Nagarajan.
The company now has three trademarks with annual revenue of ₹1,000 crore each—McDowells, Royal Challenge and Johnnie Walker. “Three trademarks have sales of ₹500 crore-plus, Signature, Black Dog and Black and White, and we have seven one million case volume brands,” she says. It had divested 32 popular brand franchises to focus on the prestige and luxury portfolio. The company is also now simplifying its operating model. It has been liquidating its unoperational offshore distilleries. “It has been our priority to consolidate, simplify operating model,” says Nagarajan. — Ajita Shashidhar