Britvic may be heading into the arms of Carlsberg in a multibillion-pound deal, but with regulators in the UK digging into the takeover we might get to see the firm’s numbers for a little while longer yet.
Our latest view of Britvic’s business came on Wednesday, and it appears the business is in decent health overall. In short, both revenues and profits increased. Indeed, the improvement was so great that the company “delivered its best-ever financial performance”, company chief executive Simon Litherland said in a statement. It’s a notable comment given this could be Britvic’s last set of full-year numbers before the Carlsberg takeover is completed.
Overall, the owner of Robinsons squash and Ballygowan posted a 15.2 per cent jump in adjusted operating profit to £250.9 million (€301 million), while revenue rose nearly 10 per cent to £1.9 billion.
While Britvic is a sprawling business these days, it’s fair to say the Irish operation did its part. Kevin Donnelly, who runs the Irish operation, said sales were up 7.8 per cent year on year here.
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“Encouragingly, we saw a return to volume growth in Q4, with volumes up 5.9 per cent on last year, and market share gains,” he said. “We continue to invest in our manufacturing facilities in Ireland, introducing tethered caps in July, expanding capacity for Ballygowan Hint of Fruit, and introducing sleek cans across our carbonated drinks portfolio.”
All in all the results are a positive message, Goodbody analyst Fintan Ryan said in a research note.
“Management anticipate that the acquisition by Carlsberg will be completed in [the first quarter of 2025], and they are confident that the outlooks for its brands and people are positive for the next year,” Ryan said.
One other notable titbit from the numbers: an apparent reaction from consumers here to the roll-out of the deposit return scheme, with volumes slipping 1.8 per cent. Yet with revenue still on the up, that is unlikely to be a concern to the powers that be.
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