Britvic’s Irish revenue falls 15.3% in third quarter

BRITVIC has reported a 15.3% year-on-year fall in third-quarter revenues for its Irish operations, to £36.5 million (approximately €41.4m).

The British-owned soft drinks manufacturer — which acquired the former soft drinks arm of C&C Group back in 2007, for just under €250m — said that “continued tough macro-economic conditions“, poor weather and a strong prior year comparative dragged down the performance of the Irish operations during the three-month period to the end of June.

The company added that in the first nine months of its financial year (which runs until the end of September), Britvic Ireland’s revenue fell — again, on a year-on-year basis — by 10.8% to £118.4m.

Britvic’s group chief executive, Paul Moody said that, in the period in question, the soft drinks markets in Britain and Ireland “were adversely affected by the poor weather in June, whilst the comparative period in 2010 was strong, reflecting both good weather and the football World Cup. Nevertheless, Britvic delivered revenue growth across the British, international and French business units, although Ireland showed a decline.”

“The actions we’ve taken to proactively manage ARP [average realised price] and margins against such challenging market conditions underpin the board’s current confidence in meeting its expectations for the full year. However, we continue to be cautious about the challenging trading conditions and the impact of consumer sentiment in our largest markets as we move into the final quarter of the financial year,” Mr Moody added.

Ireland was the only geographical area of Britvic’s business which showed a decline in third-quarter revenue (the still drink section of its British operations the only other aspect of the business which suffered). Total group revenue rose by 12.2% compared to the same period last year — to £324.9m — while total revenue for the nine months was up by 20.5%, year-on-year, to £958m.

Britvic’s Irish brand portfolio includes the likes of 7-Up, MiWadi, Club, Robinson’s and Ballygowan.