19th May 2016 07:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Britvic PLC Thursday said it remains on track to deliver its earnings guidance for the full year after reported a rise in earnings during the first half that was also accompanied by a rise in the dividend payment.
The British soft drinks producer said its adjusted pretax profit, which excludes exceptional items, rose to GBP54.5 million in the 28 weeks to April 10 from the GBP51.0 million reported a year earlier following an increase in revenue to GBP678.0 million from GBP650.3 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items rose to GBP69.0 million from GBP64.7 million as the Ebitda margin experienced a lift to 10.2% from 9.9%. Earnings before interest, tax and exceptional items rose to GBP65.4 million from GBP63.2 million.
That allowed Britvic to increase its interim dividend for the first half by 4.5% to 7.0 pence from the 6.7 pence paid last year.
"We have reported a 7.1% increase in Ebita in the first half of the year despite the challenging customer environment and continued price deflation in our core markets. We have outperformed the soft drinks category in each of our core markets, gaining market share as a result," said Chief Executive Simon Litherland.
"We continue to invest behind the longer term drivers of growth - supply chain efficiency in GB, innovation and our international businesses - and I remain excited about our ability to drive sustainable revenue growth in the years ahead. With the key summer trading period ahead of us, strong marketing plans for the rest of the year and continued cost control, we remain on-track to deliver Ebita in the range of GBP180.0 to GBP190.0 million for the full year," he added.
Britvic shares were down 1.1% to 695.50 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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