Britvic Grows Revenue and Profit
UK and international soft drinks group Britvic has reported strong operating profit growth of 18.4% to £137.9 million on revenue up 4.4% to £1.32 billion for the year ended 29 September 2013. Britivic is continuing to pursue its new development strategy, launched last May, and remains on course to deliver £30 million of cost savings per annum by 2016, £10 million of which will be invested into the international growth opportunities, especially in the US, where a new agreement with PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB) should lead to significant additional expansion.
In GB stills, the Fruit Shoot brand has recovered from the impact of the recall in July 2012 with its take-home market share at the end of the financial year back to pre-recall levels. Brand perception measures, such as “Brand you love” and “Happy to give to your child”, have also recovered from the low point of 2012.
Within the highly competitive GB carbonates sector, Britvic managed to protect its volume whilst growing both price and revenue. Pepsi again gained market value share, building on its gains in 2012.
Britvic also continued to develop its international business. In the US, Fruit Shoot distribution has been expanded to 32 states and the new agreement with PAB will see the brand available in 41 states next year. Similarly, an agreement with PepsiCo South West Europe has facilitate the roll-out of Fruit Shoot in Spain.
In France, Britvic’s syrups brands continued to perform well and gained further market share. Fruit Shoot successfully returned to the market and is performing ahead of where it was pre-recall.
In Ireland, Britvic’s own brands increased market share, despite the difficult trading conditions.
Simon Litherland, chief executive of Britvic.
Simon Litherland, chief executive of Britvic, comments: “We have delivered a strong financial performance in a year of significant change for our business. We have grown revenue and price in all of our business units and gained market value share, resulting in operating profit growth in excess of 18%. We have also reduced debt by nearly 10%, on the back of improved free cash flow generation.”
He adds: “While we anticipate that the consumer environment will remain challenging in 2014, trading in the new financial year is slightly ahead of a strong first quarter performance last year and we are confident of delivering EBIT in the range of £148m to £156m for the full year.”
