Drinks analyst Phil Carroll of Shore Capital has said that C&C Group will be likely to build on the 'compelling proposition' held by Bulmers in Ireland over the coming year.
Commenting on the year ahead for the drinks group, Carroll said in a briefing note that C&C's management "is increasing its investment behind the Bulmers brand in order to compete with the likes of the relatively newly launched Orchard Thieves by Heineken and the innovation work from Diageo in terms of the Guinness Brewers project, with both having taken some share in the past year."
He added that "Bulmers does have a strong rate of sale which should make it a compelling proposition in the trade," noting that management "hopes to build upon this through increased in-outlet activation investment."
Carroll also noted that the completion of the Gleeson integration "should provide a strong operational base to work from and we note the business now has a strong portfolio of brands to distribute, including Corona, Stella Artois, Beck’s Vier and Budweiser."
On its recent full-year performance, Carroll said that 2016 was a "tough year for C&C with a number of headwinds impacting its performance. However, we believe it has exited the year with the business in better shape as its operational performance in core markets is seeing some level of stabilisation in trading."
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
