Britvic upbeat despite no profit

BRITVIC has expressed satisfaction with its Irish division, even though operating profits here fell from £4.3 million (just under €5m) to zero in the half-year to the end of March.

The British juice and soft drinks producer said the fall in operating profits here was fully expected and due to the tough market conditions, but added that Britvic Ireland “is optimally positioned to take advantage of the eventual upturn in the Irish soft drinks market, despite the short-term trading pressures”.

The company owns Irish brands such as Ballygowan, Club, Cidona and Mi-Wadi, as well as established British brands like Tango and Robinson’s.

Britvic chief executive Paul Moody said the company had no regrets in entering the Irish market – it bought out the soft drinks division of C&C Group for almost €250m back in 2007.

He said the company was “incredibly impressed” with the “fantastic performance” of its Irish brands, which play “a huge role” in the lives of consumers here.

During the first half of its current financial year, Britvic Ireland also saw a 1.6% rise in total revenue to £101.1m, but when translated into euro terms it showed a 13.8% revenue decline to €116.7m.

The company – which also unveiled its new Irish divisional head, Andrew Richards, yesterday in succession to Billy O’Regan – also reiterated that the restructuring of its Irish operations is likely to be completed this year.

This will see the consolidation of its Cork, Ballyshannon and Waterford distribution units into its Dublin facilities and the downsizing of its Irish staff to around 800. It added that the expansion of its production facilities in Dublin will allow it to produce Robinson’s drink products here.

Mr Moody also said the company was exploring the potential for brands like Club and Ballygowan to be marketed outside of Ireland, although such moves are understood to be some way off.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned C&C had another good month in April with its Magners cider brand in Britain. According to latest monthly AC Nielsen research figures, sales volumes of the brand remained stable last month and ahead of its nearest rival.