Drinks giant Diageo today said sales in the UK were falling behind its continental neighbours – although Britons are still lapping up vodka and Baileys.

Smirnoff and whiskey and cream-based liqueur Baileys remained popular in the six months to December 31, but overall sales still declined in the UK and were flat in Europe, which was supported by double-digit growth in France and Germany.

Diageo, which saw a 12% rise in pre-tax profits to £1.8 billion in the period, said UK sales were hit by a decision to hold firm on prices and cut the number of promotions.

Elsewhere, Latin America remained the company’s strongest market with 23% sales growth, compared with 12% growth in Africa, 10% in Asia and 5% in North America.

Diageo is exposed to several struggling eurozone economies, such as Spain, Greece and Ireland, which have all posted declining sales as the wider problems flowing from the sovereign debt crisis lead to a squeeze in consumer spending.

Andrew Morgan, Diageo Europe president, said: “The economic environment, particularly in southern Europe, has impacted our performance in Western Europe, while in the emerging markets of Europe we have delivered strong growth.”

Smirnoff vodka was up 8% in the period, driven by sales in the UK and Germany, while Captain Morgan grew by 25% in the region, although it has a relatively small hold in Europe compared with regions like the US.

The company, which employs 20,000 staff worldwide, has fully integrated its recently bought Mey Icki raki brand in Turkey as it looks to increase its exposure overseas.

Diageo, which sells its drinks in 180 countries across the globe, also has high exposure to emerging markets which have supported the half-year performance.

In Africa, Guinness sales were 10% ahead, while scotch label Johnnie Walker was up 32% and in Latin America the performance was driven by a 32% rise in Smirnoff sales.

Shares in Diageo fell more than 1% after the trading update was published.

– Stock index futures fell on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece’s debt crisis stumbled again and analysts pointed to a short-term top in equity markets after the S&P 500 posted five days of back-to-back gains.

Euro zone finance ministers rejected an offer by private bondholders to help restructure Greece’s debt, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of a messy Greek default.

“The Greek debt problem is weighing a bit this morning,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. “It’s back to worrying about whether Greece is heading for a soft, messy or technical default.”

However, Cardillo said some investors were taking profits after a strong market run, especially given the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement due Wednesday.

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Kraft Foods plans to shed about 1,600 positions this year as it reorganizes and prepares to split itself into two independent public companies by year end, the maker of iconic snacks such as Oreos and Ritz crackers said yesterday.

The move will reshuffle Krafts operations in East Hanover, where the food giant currently employs about 1,050 people, according to company spokesman Michael Mitchell. The company is relocating the business management functions of its Planters nut brand, about 38 positions, to the Chicago area, and will remake the East Hanover campus into the North American hub of its soon-to-be-launched global snack foods company.

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Business Planning encompasses all the goals, strategies and actions that you envision taking to ensure your businesss survival and growth.

Huge, isn’t it? For convenience, think of business planning as being broken into two large topics; profit-making business planning and contingency business planning.

Profit-making business planning is all the general business planning that must be done to start and run a successful business. The best known example of this type of business planning is the business plan. The business plan isnt a do-it-and-forget-it business planning exercise but a living document that needs to be updated throughout the lifecycle of your business.

Once the business has officially started, profit-making business planning will center on setting and meeting goals and targets.

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Domino’s Pizza today said internet orders regularly topped £1m a day after another year of strong growth for the delivery firm.

The company, which has 726 stores in the UK, Ireland and Germany, received total orders worth £145m in the 13 weeks to Christmas Day, an increase of 9.5 per cent on a year ago and including £53.1m online.

The web boom has been fuelled by the increased use of smartphones, which now drive 12.6 per cent of Domino’s online orders, while hit shows such as The X Factor have kept customers glued to their seats at home.

The company, which has sponsored ITV shows including Red or Black and Britain’s Got Talent, said like-for-like sales in 604 stores open for more than a year were up by 3.6 per cent in the 13 week period. Th

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– On top of euro zone debt troubles, Wall Street now has to worry about sagging sales from Europe as a recession in the region seems more likely.

Warnings from companies such as chemical maker DuPont and chip maker Texas Instruments suggest the crisis may already be taking its toll on corporate America.

While holiday shopping has started on an upbeat note, the corporate warnings could sour the cheer for some investors.

“We are now beginning to see the collateral damage of the events in Europe with the earnings guidance cuts,” wrote Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

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