13th Jan 2023 09:59
(Alliance News) - C&C Group PLC on Friday saw shares fall as its outlook for the second half of financial 2023 continues to be impacted by cost of living pressures facing customers, and UK rail strikes in the festive period.
C&C is a Dublin-based beer, cider, wine, spirits and soft drinks company.
Shares were down 30% at 164.70 pence each on Friday morning in London.
C&C said consumer spending pressure is a driver behind this trading performance and will continue to be so in the near-term.
Additionally, C&C said trading has been significantly impacted by "rail network strikes in the UK, reducing footfall in urban areas over the key festive trading period".
"Despite the near-term challenges, the group will continue to operate well within its stated leverage range and this coupled with our strong free cash flow generation will ensure that our stated capital allocation objectives are maintained," it noted.
Looking ahead, it expects operating profit range for financial 2023 to be in the range of EUR84 million to EUR88 million. For financial 2022, operating profit amounted to EUR47.9 million. Pretax profit stood at GBP45.7 million, swinging from a loss of GBP121.3 million a year ago, while revenue rose to GBP1.79 billion from GBP1.02 billion.
In October, C&C had reported a pretax jump to EUR47.4 million for the six months that ended on August 31, from EUR7.1 million a year prior. Revenue grew 37% to EUR903.0 million from EUR657.3 million.
By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter
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