Britvic gets a lift from France

27th May 2011 07:15

First half sales at soft drinks group Britvic jumped by a quarter after a first-time contribution from its French division.Group revenue grew by 25.3% from £505.3m to £633.1m in the six months ended 17 April, with Britvic France registering sales of £117.4m.Revenue from the UK business unit increased by 4%, helped by second-quarter growth of 6.8%. While carbonates delivered an 8.3% rise in revenue, sales of still drinks fell by 1.6% as underlying volumes fell by 3.9%.The reason being that the pub and clubs channel was more weighted to "more value-orientated categories" such as dispensed carbonates. The Robinsons brand, famous for its squash, also saw some share loss as the company scaled back promotional activity ahead of the launch of a new product.The roll-out of the Fruit Shoot brand in Australia and continued growth in the US helped international revenues of 20.4%.However, increased selling and distribution costs - due to the inclusion of the French business - took its toll on profits. Pre-tax profit fell to £20.1m, from £27.8m in 2010. Basic earnings per share fell from 9.8p to 6.6p.Total group volumes rose by 16.6% to 1.1bn litres, as growth in the UK and International divisions offset a decline in Ireland.The group is expecting to pay an interim dividend of 5.1p per share, 8.5% than the previous year.---BC