Pepsi Max and R Whites were the standout performers for Britvic’s GB arm in the third quarter, as the company today reported “a robust” global performance with increases in sales, volumes and prices.
Worldwide revenue of £384.6m for the period from 17 April to 9 July 2017 marked a 6.5% increase on the same period last year, while volumes were up 2.3% and average retail price (ARP) had increased 2.9%.
In Britain, the soft drinks giant reported sales growth of 4.9%, with volumes rising 3.4% and ARP up 1.5%. Carbonates grew 7.6%, led by Pepsi Max and R Whites, with volume growth of 2.7% and ARP up 4.9%. However, stills revenues fell 0.4%, and 5.8% ARP decline offset 5.7% volume growth.
Britvic’s Irish sales enjoyed a 10.6% boost in Q3, driven by the wholesale business Counterpoint, while revenue in France leapt 11%, and sales for the rest of the world were flat.
The business was “in good shape” said Britvic chief executive Simon Litherland. “We have continued to execute our strategic priorities and deliver a robust performance, while taking proactive action to successfully mitigate external headwinds.”
Strong trading in Q3 was down to factors including “focus on growth channels, successful revenue management, delivery of our business capability programme and favourable weather” Litherland added.
Looking ahead to the full year, Britvic remained confident EBITA would be in line with current market expectations “despite challenging comparatives for the fourth and largest quarter, and a mixed economic backdrop”.
Barclays noted Britvic’s Q3 trading update “was slightly better than we had forecast”, while the headline revenue was “2.5% ahead of our estimate, with both volume and price/mix better”.
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