Drinks giant Britvic saw its profit after tax increase by 4.9% to €131.5 million after another strong performance driven by the continued execution of its strategy.
Its revenue increased by 5.1% to €1.68 billion, with organic revenue up 2.7%, driven by a positive volume and price/ mix delivering balanced growth.
Britvic sold over 2.4 billion litres of soft drinks this year, an increase of 1.6% on 2017.
This year the group faced challenges with both the UK and Republic of Ireland implementing a sugar tax, but the group said it successfully navigated the levy due to the strength of its low- and no-sugar portfolio.
It also faced off a shortage of CO2 during the unusually warm summer in the region.
Strong, Agile Business
“Britvic has consistently demonstrated that we are a strong, agile business, operating in a resilient category. In 2019 we have exciting plans for our portfolio of leading brands across our markets,” CEO Simon Litherland said.
“Whilst political and economic uncertainty will undoubtedly continue, we are confident we will continue our long-term track record of growing earnings, dividends and shareholder value.”
The group said that successful revenue management and positive pack mix in Ireland resulted in robust price realisation and has also driven excellent market value share growth, led by our squash brands and Ballygowan water.
It also added that the East Coast wholesale acquisition was fully realised in the first half of the year. The acquisition enabled the group to accelerate the distribution of its brands in the growing Dublin on-trade sector.
Britvic said that, despite political and economic uncertainty, the group has ‘exciting plans’ for its portfolio and expects to make further progress in the coming year.
“I am delighted that we have grown our stills brands, demonstrating that our investment in innovation and
marketing is beginning to pay off,” Litherland added.
“The investment in the transformational business capability programme is now nearing completion and is already delivering significant efficiency and commercial benefits. Free cash flow will increase materially in 2019 as capital spend falls back towards normal levels.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
