Britvic delivers Irish revenue growth across all its brands

Irish revenue at soft drinks giant Britvic increased 18.7 per cent in the past year as all of the group’s brands enjoyed growth here, its annual results show.

The results for the year ended September 30th, 2022, show that Pepsi achieved growth of 17.3 per cent in the Irish side of the business, while MiWadi enjoyed growth of 18.4 per cent and Ballygowan of 22.7 per cent.

The company said its Hint of Fruit flavoured water from Ballygowan had been a “huge success”, achieving nearly 19 per cent market share of the flavoured water category seven months after launch.

Revenue for its flavour concentrates brands, Robinsons and MiWadi, was described as “well ahead of last year”.

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“We also entered the energy category with the launch of Club Loaded and the extension of the Energise brand into the stimulant segment,” it said.

“Through a combination of price, mix and promotional management and simplifying the operating model with the closure of Counterpoint last year, the Irish business has delivered a significant improvement in operating margin, in line with our strategy.”

Britvic Ireland managing director Kevin Donnelly said the group’s strategy was “delivering results and driving forward momentum”.

“We are pleased with the performance of our innovation initiatives with Ballygowan Hint of Fruit capturing almost one fifth of the flavoured water market within a matter of months, and successful launches into the energy drinks category, driving 62 per cent growth in the Energise brand,” he said.

“Our Healthier People, Healthier Planet Strategy has led to further reductions in our carbon emissions, in packaging weight per serve, in calories per serve and our staff engagement has increased to 79 per cent.”

The wider group saw revenue increase 15.5 per cent to £1.6 billion (€1.8 billion), driven by both price and volume, while profit after tax increased 45.3 per cent to £140.2 million.

Britvic chief executive Simon Litherland said: “We recognise that there are significant inflationary pressures on our consumers, customers and suppliers, and we remain focused on mitigating costs in a responsible manner through efficiency initiatives and revenue management.

“Looking forward, the uncertain environment makes it difficult to forecast consumer demand in the near term. We draw confidence however from the continued resilience and growth of our category, our brands and our talented people.

“Our strategy is working, with clear drivers to continue our consistent track record of growth and delivery of superior returns for all our stakeholders.”