AG Barr interim profit hit by poor weather and tough market conditions

22nd Sep 2015 07:45

(ShareCast News) - Shares in AG Barr slumped after the soft drinks company reported a drop in first-half interim profit due to poor weather and tough market conditions and said it does not expect any profit growth this year.For the six months ended 31 July, pre-tax profit fell 11.3% from the first half of last year to £16.9m, as revenue slipped to £130.3m from £135.7mThe company said the soft drinks market was hit by continued price deflation and very poor weather, especially in the north of the UK. In addition, its revenue performance was affected by the stretching prior year comparatives driven by better than average weather, strong execution behind the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and specific brand promotional phasing changes in the current year.The interim dividend was increased 8% to 3.36p per share and AG Barr said it expects to deliver full-year results broadly in line with last yearThe company said it the difficult market conditions experienced so far are expected to continue. It said that while the business is responding well to the market challenges, the weather since it last updated the market in July has been poor and, although it has recovered some sales momentum, it is not yet at the run rate it has targeted. Chief executive Roger White said: "We have delivered a number of significant system, business process and operational improvement projects over the course of the last six months, which will ensure we can successfully deliver our long-term growth and efficiency ambitions. These important changes have been made against a challenging backdrop of stretching prior year comparatives, disappointing weather and tough market conditions."Our focus in the coming months will be to build our sales momentum and continue our long-term brand investment strategy."At 0950 BST, AG Barr shares were down 5.3% at 532.50p.