Soft drinks firm Britvic served up a 20 per cent increase in first half profit and said despite sales being adversely affected by wetter than usual weather in April and early May, it remains confident of meeting full year targets.
Group revenue rose 1.7% to £641.1m for the 28 weeks ended 15 April 2012. Pre-tax profit for the period rose to £24.1m from £20.1m the year before.
Group EBITA fell 6.9% to £41.9m while EBITA margin fell on the back of higher raw material costs before the implementation of 2012 price increase.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
GB revenue growth rose 2.4%, led by a 6.7% rise in carbonates while Britvic France revenue was up 6.4%, led by strong price growth of 11.5%.
International sales delivered double-digit revenue growth, driven by US Fruit Shoot and expansion into new states, including Texas. However Britvic Ireland continued to deteriorate. Britvic said further decisive action has been taken on costs to mitigate declining top line.
Commenting on the group's performance chief executive Paul Moody said, "Despite the challenging economic environment, Britvic has delivered a robust performance and made encouraging progress on key initiatives. Revenues increased for the group, GB, International and France, delivering improved cash flow, enabling a reduction in debt and a proposed further increase in the interim dividend."
"Although the GB soft drinks market in April and early May has been adversely impacted by the poor weather, Britvic has continued to grow market share and with the key summer months ahead, we currently, remain comfortable with delivering the full year performance in line with our expectations."
An interim dividend of 5.3p has been offered, up by 3.9%.
Britvic's pension deficit reduced to £16.7m in April from £45.1m the same time last year after changes to the Britvic Ireland Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
CJ
-
Christmas at Chatsworth: review of The Cavendish Hotel at BaslowMoneyWeek Travel Matthew Partridge gets into the festive spirit at The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow and the Christmas market at Chatsworth
-
Tycoon Truong My Lan on death row over world’s biggest bank fraudProperty tycoon Truong My Lan has been found guilty of a corruption scandal that dwarfs Malaysia’s 1MDB fraud and Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto scam
