C&C has reported an improved trading performance in Ireland as volumes grew 1.8% in the three months to November after a weak summer trading period.
In an interim management statement, the drinks group said that Irish volumes in the third quarter were up 1.8%.
Trading conditions stabilised after an unseasonably wet summer, while volumes were also boosted by trade buy-in ahead of the Budget duty rise in December.
Irish cider volumes rose by 0.9% with Bulmers performing ''steadily'' across both the pub and off-licence trade.
Beer volumes rose 7%, with volumes of its core beer brand, Tennent's, up 22% in the quarter. C&C noted that volumes continued to shift from the pub trade to the off-licence trade, but the rate of migration slowed.
The company said the trading environment for long alcoholic drinks and cider in the UK remained very challenging. C&C cider volumes in the UK fell 11.9% in the three month period, which represented a moderate improvement on the first half of the year. Magners volumes were down 11.7%.
International beer and cider volumes jumped 28.1% in the third quarter with Magners volume up 16% in North America. C&C said that distribution issues for Magners in Australia remain a drag on overall export volume for the brand but growth in other areas is ''encouraging''.
C&C said that despite the challenging trading and economic environment, it has reaffirmed its guidance of operating profit at the lower end of the previously stated range of between €112m to €118m.
During the period, C&C announced and completed a deal to buy the Vermont Hard Cider Company in the US while it also announced a deal for the Gleeson Group, a supplier and distributor of drinks in Ireland. That deal is still subject to approval from the Irish Competition Authority.
''The acquisition of VHCC and the expected completion of the Gleeson deal broaden the scale and scope of C&C and should improve the growth prospects of the group,'' the company said.
The company said that trading over the key Christmas period was mixed between markets. In Ireland, despite the pre-duty increase trade stock build in November, trading over Christmas was ahead of expectations. But retail data in the UK off-trade suggests a more muted trading period.
''Good growth in export volume should continue in the last quarter of the year, supported by the usual stock build in a number of markets ahead of St Patrick's Day,'' the company concluded.
