Despite the distractions of the (still) possible merger with Irn-Bru, Britvic has been pressing ahead with its own business: in announcing its interim results for the 28 weeks ended 14 April 2013 it points both to strong profit growth (up 27.6%), and to a new strategy. The new strategy is designed to deliver £30 million annual savings (chiefly through factory closures), as well as drive international sales.
Financial Highlights:
- Strong profit growth with EBITA of £53.6m up 27.6% on prior year and EBITA margin up 180 basis points
- Underlying EBITA up 17.9% when adjusted for one off and phasing items, demonstrating a materially improved financial performance
- Strong margin and pricing growth in every business unit. Group revenue up 0.4%
- Significant progress in improving free cash flow conversion, resulting in reduction of group adjusted net debt by £30.7m
- Adjusted earnings per share up 47.6% to 12.4p and dividend increase of 1.9% to 5.4p
Strategic Highlights:
- Announcement of a new strategy which will accelerate growth of the core and international business
- Major initiatives, underpinning the strategy, will deliver annual savings of £30m by 2016. These include proposals to close two factories in GB and a warehouse in Northern Ireland as well as the creation of a combined GB and Ireland business unit under a single leadership team
- Increase in investment of £10m per annum by 2015 in the International business unit to accelerate the realisation of the increasing growth potential of our brands internationally
- Agreement reached with Narang Group for the national sales & distribution of Fruit Shoot in India, commencing mid-2014