Ballygowan and MiWadi drive growth at Britvic Ireland

Strong sales of brands like Ballygowan and MiWadi drove a 4.1% rise in revenues at the Irish arm of international soft drinks producer Britvic in the first half of its current financial year.

Britvic — which inherited the likes of Club, MiWadi and Ballygowan when it acquired C&C Group’s former soft drinks division in 2007 — yesterday reported group revenue of £678m (€882m) for the six months to April 10, up 5.1% on the same period last year, with post-tax profit ahead year-on-year by 7.5% at £41.7m.

Its traditionally underperforming Irish operations generated revenues of £62.9m for the half year, up by 4.1% on a constant exchange rate basis and by 1.9% on an actual exchange rate basis.