Britvic quarter 'robust', cautious outlook

27th Jan 2010 07:02

Soft drinks firm Britvic has seen 'robust' market conditions in the last quarter, but said it remains cautious about the outlook for consumer confidence and spending.The group also said that adverse weather conditions in the early weeks of January have resulted in a marked slowing of demand, while sales pressure in Ireland is continuing.'Given the exceptionally strong performance during the comparative period in 2009, the second quarter would be expected to see a relative slowing of the rate of growth,' said the group. 'In addition, adverse weather conditions have been unhelpful in the early weeks of January resulting in a marked slowing of demand and looking ahead, we again remain cautious about the outlook for consumer confidence and spending in the balance of the financial year.'Britvic added that it remains confident of meeting expectations for the 53-week financial year ending 3 October 2010.Total revenues for the 12 weeks to 20 December were up by 11% to £242.7m. The core UK and International revenues grew by 15.2% during the period, representing GB carbonates growth of 20.1%, GB stills growth of 9.6%, and Britvic International growth of 5.1%. The contribution from Britvic Ireland of £48.4m for the 3 months to 31 December was down by 3% on the same period in the prior year, although underlying euro revenues were down by 10.1%.'We anticipate that the GB soft drinks market will continue to demonstrate resilience through 2010, although the Irish market is expected to remain challenging,' the group said.