FDBusiness.com

Britvic has reported an 8.6% decrease in revenue to £1.412 billion and a 22.6% decline in adjusted EBIT to £165.8 million for the year ended 30 September 2020 with adjusted EBIT margin falling by 220bps to 11.7%.

Britvic is one of the leading branded soft drinks businesses in Europe. The company combines its own leading brand portfolio including Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango, J2O, London Essence, Teisseire and MiWadi with PepsiCo brands such as Pepsi, 7UP and Lipton Ice Tea which Britvic produces and sells in Great Britain and Ireland under exclusive PepsiCo agreements.

During the year Britvic extended its carbonates relationship with PepsiCo in Great Britain to 2040 and consequently increased its participation in the energy category by adding PepsiCo’s Rockstar to the portfolio alongside Purdey’s. Britvic also completed the sale of its juice factories and private label contracts in France. The UK-based soft drinks group also announced its intent to use 100% recycled PET (rPET) bottles across the GB brand portfolio by end of 2022.

Simon Litherland, Chief Executive Officer of Britvic, comments: “While none of us would have wished for the challenging circumstances 2020 has brought, I am very proud of how we have responded as a business and delivered on the priorities we set ourselves at the start of the pandemic. Our determined and dedicated people, portfolio of trusted brands, strong commercial relationships and operational agility mean we have performed strongly where we have been able to compete. We also continue to navigate the changing landscape successfully. So, even though out-of-home trading has inevitably been impacted, we have continued to gain market share in our key growth markets of GB and Brazil, and we have successfully protected cash and our overall financial strength.”

He continues: “At the same time, we have also made considerable progress executing our strategy and we are well positioned to drive future growth and returns. We have extended our GB carbonates relationship with PepsiCo to 2040 and expanded our presence in the energy category through the addition of their Rockstar brand. We have accelerated our sustainable business commitments and completed the disposal of non-core assets in France, which will result in more focus on growing our higher margin brands there. While 2021 will bring continued uncertainty, it also presents real opportunity for Britvic to capitalise on the trends which have accelerated as a result of the pandemic. We are confident that we will continue to react with agility and pace as events unfold. Soft drinks has repeatedly proved itself to be a highly resilient category, and we fully intend to be at the forefront of its recovery.”