Drinks group C&C has reported pre-tax profits - before exceptionals - of €91.1m for the 12 months to the end of February. This is an increase from the profit figure of €67.6m the same time last year.
The company said its operating profits for the year increased by 17% to €105m, in line with previous expectations.
Revenues rose to €789.7m from €490.8m as the company's cider brand in the UK, Magners, saw volume growth of 4%. This reflected 3.6% growth in the UK and 33.8% export growth.
C&C says Bulmers volumes fell by 2.4% in a challenging Irish market.
C&C group chief executive John Dunsmore said that the company's main cider brands - Magners and Bulmers - are in good health.
He said that the UK, as the world's largest cider market, continues to grow and attract new entrants to the category. 'Magners now enjoys growth and momentum in both the UK and international markets. We intend to protect the strength of the brand with incremental support,' he added.
'While we have not assumed any pick up in consumer spend within the next twelve months, the shape of our business today should sustain earnings growth. We currently expect operating profit to grow from €100.5m to a range of between €108-€115m for the financial year ending February 2012,' the CEO said.
C&C said that operating profits in its original cider business rose by 9% to €71.1m, while acquisitions contributed operating profits of €29.8m.
The company also managed to reduce its net debt from €365m to about €6m at the end of February. It said it was proposing a final dividend increase of 10% to 3.3 cent per share which will deliver a full year dividend per share of 6.6 cent.
C&C described the performance of the Bulmers business unit during the year as robust. 'The objective of holding earnings in a deflationary environment was achieved,' the company said.
It added that earnings were protected by an improvement in operating margins as the impact of cost reductions in Ireland flowed through.
Shares in C&C closed down 1.4% to €3.55 in Dublin this afternoon.
