C&C SEEING STRONG GROWTH IN CIDER EXPORTS - Drinks group C&C has reported operating profits of €105m for the year to the end of February. C&C says its cider brand in the UK, Magners, saw volume growth of 4% on the year before. This reflected 3.6% growth in the UK and 33.8% export growth. It says Bulmers volumes fell by 2.4% in a challenging Irish market. C&C says that while it does not assume any pick up in consumer spending within the next twelve months, the shape of the business today should sustain earnings growth.
Stephen Glancey, the financial director at C&C, says that the company is coming through the trough of the slowdown but still faces a difficult market. He says that trading the last couple of months has been positively impacted by the fairly good weather, the numerous bank holidays and the royal wedding in London. He says that while there are challenges ahead for the company, he notes that cider is still a growth category in the UK and says the company is enjoying strong exports growth with exports to the US up by 36% last year and exports to Australia jumping by 70%.
Mr Glancey says people are changing their drinking habits when more people drinking at home rather than in the pub. He says that the company has a strong balance sheet and will look at possible acquisitions in any market, including the UK and Ireland.
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MORNING BRIEFS - In a statement ahead of its AGM today, Irish Life and Permanent says that while it believes the worst of the recession is over in Ireland, it expects the recovery in 2011 to be modest with continued weakness in domestic demand and consumer sentiment - this though will be partially offset by a strong export sector performance. Its statement says residential property prices continue to fall. Although the unemployment rate is showing signs of stabilising, employment is expected to continue to fall in 2011. It says arrears on the bank's Irish residential book continue to increase while new mortgage demand has been very subdued year to date. It adds that its total impairments over the next three years based on the recent stress tests will be €1.2 billion, of which about €620m will occur this year.
*** AIB Group announced a new corporate structure and named its new executive team yesterday. AIB's executive chairman David Hodgkinson said the change in structure would help to improve the bank's service to its customers and the new executive team will make changes further down the levels at the bank and. The bank has been criticised for some of the appointments, as many on the new executive team have worked at the bank for some time, but David Hodgkinson defended the appointments, saying there is a mix of new and old in the team. Not all of AIB had been bad, and institutional knowledge and experience is needed as the bank recovers, he said.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.4260 cents and 87.66 pence sterling.
