Ballygowan owner set to show huge earnings decline due to lockdown

International soft drinks group Britvic – which also includes Club Orange, TK lemonade and MiWadi in its Irish portfolio – is expected to post a near 20% drop in earnings when it reports first-half figures next week

Television personality Bláthnaid Treacy launched the new Ballygowan range earlier this month.

The owner of Ballygowan mineral water and Club Orange brands is expected to post a near 20% drop in earnings when it reports first-half figures next week.

International soft drinks group Britvic – which also includes TK lemonade and MiWadi in its Irish portfolio – is due to publish financial figures for the six months to the end of March next Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Britvic said it expected to see continued pressure on its sales with national lockdowns in Britain and Ireland continuing. 

As much as 45% of Britvic’s sales volumes in Ireland come from its out-of-home channels – with pubs, bars, hotels and office water cooler systems all large revenue earners.

The group saw a 6% drop in revenue for the first quarter of its financial year, covering the three months to the end of last December.

'Significantly affected' by Covid restraints

At the first quarter mark, Britvic said it expected its performance to continue to be “significantly affected” by Covid restraints in the UK and Ireland, before “gradually” improving as restrictions begin to be lifted.

Goodbody expects Britvic to post group earnings, for its first half of £61m (€71m), which would be down 19.5% on a year-on-year basis.

“The renewed lockdown restrictions is expected to lead to an acceleration of declines,” said Goodbody analyst Patrick Higgins.

However, Goodbody noted a “resilient” first quarter performance from soft drinks giant Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) – which controls the iconic soft drink in Europe, Australia and Oceania. 

It showed a 4.5% drop in revenues, again due to Covid restrictions in many of its key markets.

“While CCEP experienced a similar challenging impact from the restrictions, it is encouraging to note its resilient and improving performance in Britain, which bodes well for Britvic,” said Mr Higgins.