Drinks group Britvic says it planning to restructure its Irish business, as the continuing economic weakness has affected sales and profits. Its Irish brands include Ballygowan, 7Up, Robinsons and MiWadi.
The company said it was reviewing the scale of its operations in Ireland, where it employs around 750 people, as the value of the drinks market had fallen. Britvic said there had been a shift in consumer spending habits in Ireland, with declines in the pub and convenience store sector.
In its annual results for the year to October 3, the company also said it had written £104m (€123.7m) off the value of its properties and other assets in Ireland.
Though Irish sales volumes for the year rose 1.3%, following a 10.7% fall the previous year, lower prices meant that revenue fell 5.4% to £179m. Profits in the Irish business fell by more than 40% to £6.8m.
Britvic Ireland announced early in 2009 plans to cut 145 jobs over 12 months.
Overall, Britvic reported pre-tax profits of £80m, up just over 20% from a year earlier, while revenue was up almost 15% to £1.1 billion.
