Drinks firm buoyed by warm weather

Warm spring weather and a pick-up in the soft drinks market helped Irn-Bru maker AG Barr report a boost in sales today.

The Glasgow-based company said sales rose by 21% in the first 13 weeks of the year to 28 April.

Stripping out the impact of its acquisition of Strathmore Water last June, like-for-like sales were up by 11% on last year.

The firm said it had seen a pick up in the underlying soft drinks market, which grew by 8% in value terms, amid the mild winter and exceptionally warm weather in April.

The group added that trading since the end of April had continued in line with expectations but warned that it was about to come up against tough comparisons following warm weather last year.