Right spirit for Diageo

But the performance was flattered by sales comparisons with the depths of the recession and the firm added that "consumer trends remain difficult to predict".

Diageo – which was also helped by an early Easter holiday and buying brought forward to avoid alcohol duty hikes – left its forecast of "low single digit" profits growth for the year to June unchanged.

Chief executive Paul Walsh added: "While we have seen some signs of recovery, albeit fragile in the mature markets and stronger in the emerging markets, our performance in the quarter benefited from comparison against a weak third quarter last year."

Diageo is also behind brands including Smirnoff vodka, Captain Morgan rum, Tanque-ray gin and Jose Cuervo tequila.

Despite the company's caution, Evolution analyst Simon Hales said the performance was "impressive" with upgrades to full-year results likely following the update.