AG Barr to beat forecasts

29th Jul 2010 07:59

Scottish soft drinks maker AG Barr expects full year trading to beat forecasts after sales continued to perform ahead of the market in the first half.Total sales revenue is expected to reach £118m for the six month period ending 31 July, an increase of 13% on the prior year, thanks to strong performances from IRN-BRU, Barr and particularly Rubicon. However, AG Barr is less bullish on the second half. The group anticipates some significant inflation in imported fruit costs in the second half which will impact the Rubicon brand. It says it is taking steps to minimise this impact where possible and expects to implement specific price increases for Rubicon in the next few months. "In the second half we face tougher year on year comparative trading conditions and expect our performance to return to levels more in line with the overall soft drinks market," the group said. "Despite the cost of this increased level of investment and our ongoing caution regarding the overall economic outlook we expect the full year trading performance to be ahead of management's expectations."