FDBusiness.com

Britvic, the UK-based soft drinks group, has increased revenue by 1.7% to £641.1 million for the 28 weeks ended 15 April 2012 but EBITA declined 6.9% to £41.9 million and margins slipped 60bps to 6.5% due to the impact of higher raw material costs and continuing problems at its Irish business. Profit before tax sank 10.5% to £24.8 million.

During the first half Britvic increased group volumes by 1.9% to 1.1 billion litres and achieved revenue growth in its GB, France and International business units. However, the business in Ireland continued to have a negative impact on the group’s overall performance. Indeed, Britvic faces a challenging trading environment characterised by fragile consumer confidence in its three core markets of  GB, France and Ireland.

GB revenue rose by 2.4% to £430.9 million with comparable volume growth of 2.9%. Britvic France revenue advanced 6.4% to £123.1 million, led by strong price growth of 11.5%, as volumes were down 4.6% in the first half of the year. The International business unit delivered revenue growth of 13% to £14.4 million, driven by US Fruit Shoot and expansion into new states, including Texas.

Although volumes edged up 0.5%, revenue fell by 10% to £ 72.7 million at Britvic Ireland. The Irish soft drinks market remains challenging and shows no sign of recovery in the near term, according to Britvic. Britvic is taking further action on costs to mitigate the declining top line and to create a long term, sustainable and profitable business.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, Britvic has delivered a robust performance and made encouraging progress on key initiatives,” says Paul Moody, chief executive of Britvic. “Revenues increased for the group, GB, International and France, delivering improved cash flow, enabling a reduction in debt and a proposed further increase in the interim dividend.”

Looking ahead, he comments: “Although the GB soft drinks market in April and early May has been adversely impacted by the poor weather, Britvic has continued to grow market share and with the key summer months ahead, we currently, remain comfortable with delivering the full year performance in line with our expectations.”