Drinks group C&C has reported a fall in revenues and operating profits for the year to the end of February as the company faced a range of challenges including poor weather and increased competition.
C&C said its full year revenues eased by 3.1% to €662.6m while operating profits fell by 10.3% to €103.2m, as it had previously guided.
The Co Tipperary-based company said it was recommending a final dividend of 8.92 cent, up 27.4%. It said this highlighted its confidence in both earnings and cash generation.
It said its remains on track to deliver €15m of cost savings, the initial benefits of which will start to flow through in the full year of 2017.
In a bright note for the company, C&C said that its Magners cider brand has returned to growth in the UK. Cider exports were up 15% over the past 12 months and C&C said that improved momentum had continued into this year.
C&C's chief executive Stephen Glancey said that the company is positioned to deliver earnings growth and strong cash generation in the coming year.
"We retain a strong balance sheet and our commitment is to deploy capital where we believe it will drive greatest value for shareholders," Mr Glancey added.
He noted that C&C returned €115m to shareholders last year and it intends to increase this to over €130m by the middle of the year under its current share buyback plan.
Shares in the company closed over 2.5% higher in Dublin trade today.
Breaking down its operations, C&C said that revenues in its Irish division fell by 12.6% to €358.1m from €409.7m while operating profits slumped over 17% to €49m from €59.3m the previous year.
The company noted that the second half of the year showed some modest improvement as the impact of poor weather eased.
It said that cider net revenues on the island of Ireland fell by 16% due to the poor summer weather and increased competition as a new competitor entered the Irish market during the year.
However, its Irish beer volumes were positive with the recently acquired Corona agency seeing underlying growth of over 30%. It added that its Clonmel 1650 brand consolidated its position with a solid performance during the year.
Revenues in its Scottish operations fell by 6.3% to €339.8m from €362.6m while operating profits decreased by 11.2% to €37.9m from €42.7m - mainly due to the implementation of new drink drive legislation there.
C&C noted that the consolidation of the Wallaces Express business during the year caused some disruption to the commercial focus and performance in the first half of the year. But it added that backed by a renewed focus on trade lending, "there is a lot to be optimistic about in FY 2017" for its Scottish operations.
Revenues at its C&C Brands division were down almost 11% to €177m from €198.7m, while operating profits were flat at €10.5m.
Meanwhile, operating profits at its North America operations slumped by over 64% to €0.6m from €1.7m while revenues fell by almost 15% to €47.5m from €55.8m.
C&C said its US cider brands had a "challenging year" due to the impact of a growing number of local craft producers and a slowdown in the category.
Revenues at the company's Export division - which includes all markets outside of Ireland, the US and UK - rose by 12.4% to €24.5m from €21.8m, while operating profits also grew by 10.6% to €5.2m from €4.7m.
It said that the authenticity and provenance of its Irish, English and Scottish cider and beer brands fit well with the consumer opportunities emerging in many markets.
