Britvic Ireland's revenues edge higher

Drinks group Britvic Ireland, which announced 145 job losses here earlier this year, has said its half yearly operating profits fell by £4.3m sterling to zero, as a result of the challenging markets conditions.

However, revenues rose by nearly 2% to £101.1m for the 28 weeks to the end of April 2009.

The company said that despite the short-term trading pressures, the business is 'optimally positioned' to take advantage of the eventual upturn in the Irish soft-drinks market.

It said that while Irish supermarket soft-drink volumes rose by 4%, the convenience and impulse and licensed markets were down 15% and 20% respectively, led by the severe economic downturn.

However, £10.4m of savings expected for 2009 are heavily weighted to the second half of the year and Britvic said it is confident of achieving a positive result for the business in the full year.

The company said that after investment in new production capabilities in its Dublin plant, Britvic Ireland now has the capacity to produce the Robinsons squash range in Ireland for the very first time.

Britvic Ireland - with brands including Ballygowan, 7UP, Club, Mi Wadi and Robinsons - currently employs about 940 staff, with operations in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Donegal and Belfast.

At group level, Britvic said its pre-tax profits rose by over 16% to £20m, while revenues rose by 6.3% to £483.2m on acceleration of growth in the second quarter of the year.

Britvic CEO Paul Moody said that the company's brands have continued to outperform in each of its key markets.

'Revenues in our second half so far continue in line with our first half performance and we have also started to see modest improvements in the British soft drinks market,' he commented.

'These trends combined with our proven sales and marketing strategies as well as disciplined cost management mean that we are very well placed to drive continued growth earnings growth and cash generation. All of this gives us confidence in meeting full-year expectations,' he added.