Irn-Bru maker AG Barr's full year results were slightly ahead of expectations, with the Scottish group's exotic juice brands, Rubicon and KA showing particularly good growth.
Underlying profit before tax rose 6.2% to £33.6m in the year to end of January from £31.6m the year before, slightly ahead of the £33.41m the market had been expecting.
Sales continued to outperform the soft drinks market and grew 6.6% to £237.0m (2011: £222.4m). Over the last three years, turnover has increased by a cumulative 27.6%.
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However, not all results improved over the 12-month period as the gross margin fell by 100 basis points with price increases being offset by rising input costs (for ingredients such as sugar, fruit pulp and PET) and a changing product mix.
"AG BARR has demonstrated its resilience in the face of challenging market conditions, in particular coping with substantial raw material cost headwinds while achieving revenue growth based on brand development, innovation and improved focus on execution," said Chief Executive Roger White.
He said that he expects 2012 to be another challenging year for consumers with household disposable incomes staying under pressure.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 20.65p per share (2011: 18.66p) takes the full year dividend up to 27.95p per share, an increase of 10.0% over the prior year.
Cash generation was strong during the year, with free cash flow standing at £20.2m at the year-end, compared with £15.7m the year before. This helped the group reduce its net debt by 59.5% to £6.7m, down from £16.6m previously.
Shares were up 0.74% at 1,229p in afternoon trade on Monday.
JH/BC
