Britvic sees Q3 revenues fall 11.1%

Third-quarter revenues at the Irish division of international soft drinks producer, Britvic, fell by 11.1%, year-on-year, with the company complaining of an “extremely challenging” three months.

Group revenue for the period to the end of the first week of July fell by 5.1% on a constant currency basis; but negative exchange rate impact boosted that annualised slide to 7.6%.

On a regional basis, only France showed revenue growth for the group, during the period, with a 4.3% increase noted. Britvic’s international division saw third-quarter revenue decline by 1.3%, while sales in its core British market fell by just under 7% on a year-on-year basis.

“The third quarter has been extremely challenging for Britvic. The weak consumer environment and very disappointing weather at a key time for soft drink sales had a marked impact on our performance,” chief executive Paul Moody said.

Britvic has suffered a tough few weeks with the recall — in Britain only — of its popular Robinson’s Fruit Shoot product. The company has already said that profits would be hit by between £15m and £25m in the next two years because of this.

In yesterday’s update, management said that its resources will be focused on re-establishing the product in the British marketplace as soon as possible, but that, because of this, capital expenditure for this year will be around the £50m mark.