Drinks recall to hurt Britvic earnings

Britvic said the recall of its popular children’s drinks Robinsons Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot Hydro packs last week would hurt its earnings more than expected, raising concerns among analysts that the company’s image could take a hit.

The British soft drink maker said the recall would cut between £15 million (€11.9m) and £25m from profit before tax across the current and next fiscal years. Britvic, which recalled the two brands last week over faulty new design caps, said it expects to report full-year results at the lower end of market expectations before the impact of the recall.

“Today’s news is not going to be beneficial to Britvic management’s credibility and has escalated considerably compared to just eight days ago,” Numis Securities’ analyst Charles Pick said in a note.