"We have some things that I can't discuss that we're close to in getting back our leading position as it comes to profit in the tequila category," Larry Schwartz, president of Diageo North America, told Reuters in an interview. "Hopefully I'll be able to talk about it in a couple months."

Schwartz said the company was looking at acquisitions as well as in-house innovation.

The company lost its right to distribute Jose Cuervo tequila last month after it failed to reach a deal with the brand's owners regarding an equity stake.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)