9th Jan 2019 08:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - Soft drinks company Nichols PLC on Wednesday said it expects to report a rise in annual profit as sales improved in 2018, driven by double-digit growth in the UK.
The producer of fruit flavoured cordial Vimto reported sales of GBP142.0 million for 2018, up 6.9%. This increase was driven by an excellent performance in the UK, the company highlighted, where sales grew by 13% to GBP114.6 million.
Nichols said its Vimto brand significantly outperformed the UK soft drinks category and gained market share. The total UK soft drinks market grew 7.4% in 2018, the company noted.
Elsewhere in the UK, sales in the Out of Home channel increased by 15% year-on-year. This strong performance was driven by improved sales of both dispensed soft drinks and frozen beverage products.
Nichols' international sales declined to GBP27.4 million from GBP31.0 million reported in 2017.
The company said it saw a strong performance in Africa during the second half of the year, with sales up by 6.5%.
However, sales to the Middle East were down on the prior year, due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen and the timing of shipments to Saudi Arabia. As a result, sales in the Middle East region totalled GBP9.6 million compared to GBP13.0 million a year earlier.
"In summary, the board is very pleased with the 2018 group sales performance and expects full year profit to be ahead of the prior year and at least in line with current market expectations," Nichols said in the statement Wednesday.
The company's annual results will be announced on February 27, it said.
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