Britivic counts cost of Fruit Shoot recall

Britvic, the soft drinks firm in merger talks with Irn Bru maker AG Barr, saw full year underlying revenue decline a touch, primarily because of the recall of its Fruit Shoot products.

Revenue in the year to September 30th totalled £1,256.4m, down 0.8% on a constant currency (CC) basis and 2.6% on an actual exchange rates basis. The fourth quarter saw group revenue decline by 4.9%, or 1.9% on a CC basis.

"Following the Fruit Shoot recall in July, we have been focused on returning supply to normalised levels. Concurrently, we have been driving an improving performance from the strong brands across the group. A further key brand priority has been to ensure that we build and realise the value of our emerging US Fruit Shoot business. We continue to place a strong emphasis on cash generation and rigorous cost management across the group," said Paul Moody, Britvic's Chief Executive.

"The board is confident of delivering its expectations for the full year," he added.

More to follow ...

JH