29th Mar 2016 06:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - AG Barr PLC on Tuesday reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year, although revenue fell slightly in a challenging market which faced a tough comparative the year before.
The soft drinks company said its pretax profit in the year ended January 30 rose to GBP41.3 million from GBP38.6 million the year before, as revenue fell slightly to GBP258.6 million from GBP260.9 million.
Profit was lifted as there were no exceptional items in the year, compared with an exceptional cost of GBP3.3 million in the year before. The prior year's pretax profit would have been higher at GBP41.9 million without the exceptional cost.
Sales, meanwhile, were hit by deflation in the market and volume underperformance, AG Barr said, following disappointing summer weather. The prior year benefited from better weather and marketing at the Commonwealth Games.
AG Barr will pay a total dividend of 13.33 pence for the year, which is up 10% on the prior year.
"Market conditions in the core UK soft drinks market are not expected to substantially change as we look forward. Top-line growth remains under pressure and changes in consumer preferences offer challenges and opportunities in equal measure," Chief Executive Roger White said in a statement.
White also briefly noted the recently announced plans by the UK government to place a levy on drinks with high levels of added sugar, a move which hit shares in AG Barr following the Budget.
"Although the details of the chancellor's proposed soft drinks levy are still to be consulted upon, we believe our combination of brand strength, ongoing product reformulation and consumer driven innovation will allow us to minimise the financial impact on the business at the proposed point of implementation in April 2018," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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