...Diageo plc's ratings reflect the strong and defensible business profile of the w orld's largest international spirits producer by revenue and its healthy free cash flow (FCF) generation, supported by the company 's ability to drive EBITDA grow th through brand portfolio management, innovation and operating efficiencies. Nevertheless, the headroom under the `A-' rating is tight due to Diageo's internal leverage target, w hich is more commensurate w ith the `BBB' rating category. The Stable Outlook is based on Fitch Ratings' expectation that the company w ill continue to have strong operating performance and cash generation w hile managing shareholder distributions at its discretion, but w ithin the boundaries of leverage, not materially deviating from the maximum threshold consistent w ith the rating. The upgrade of the company's Short-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to `F1' from `F2' in October 2019 reflects the assignment of the higher of the tw o rating options for the rating, based...
