FDBusiness.com

Britvic, the largest supplier of branded still soft drinks and the number two supplier of branded carbonated soft drinks in Great Britain, has increased revenue by 5.1% to £678.0 million and operating profit by 3.5% to £65.4 million for the 28 weeks ended 10 April 2016. The results include a first time contribution from a recent acquisition in Brazil.

Group adjusted EBITA rose by 7.1% to £69.0 million, with EBITA margin increasing by 20bps to 10.2%. However, organic EBITA excluding the impact of Brazil grew 3.1% and underlying revenue declined by 1.8%. Delivering revenue growth in its core markets remained difficult for Britvic and profit growth in the first half of the year was underpinned by a strong focus on cost control.

Simon Litherland, chief executive of Britvic, comments: “We have reported a 7.1% increase in EBITA in the first half of the year despite the challenging customer environment and continued price deflation in our core markets. We have outperformed the soft drinks category in each of our core markets, gaining market share as a result. Our recent acquisition in Brazil is growing ahead of last year and Fruit Shoot multi-pack is being launched in the USA.”

He continues: “We continue to invest behind the longer term drivers of growth – supply chain efficiency in GB, innovation and our international businesses – and I remain excited about our ability to drive sustainable revenue growth in the years ahead. With the key summer trading period ahead of us, strong marketing plans for the rest of the year and continued cost control, we remain on-track to deliver EBITA in the range of £180 million to £190 million for the full year.”