Britvic's full-year profits jump, but outlook cautious

26th Nov 2014 07:56

Higher revenue and an effective cost control strategy saw soft drink producer Britvic's operating profit for the year rise almost 18%.The firm reported a 17.6% increase in operating profit to £158.1m for the year ended 28 September, ahead of its own estimate of between £148m and £156m.Revenues fell sharply in the last three months of the year but were up 2.4% over the full year at £1.34bn, while lower costs helped boost yearly profits and earnings per share rose 18.8% to 41.8p."This is a strong set of results and we have made excellent progress during the year implementing our new strategy," said Simon Litherland, the group chief executive."We have delivered revenue and margin growth, and profit significantly ahead of last year, despite challenging trading conditions in each of our markets."In 2013, Britvic rejected a merger proposal from AG Barr, opting instead to slash costs in order to fund an expansion and it has anticipated it will launch its Fruit Shoot drink in the US in the second half of 2015."The year has begun slowly, reflecting the increasingly challenging trading conditions," said Litherland."However we are confident of further improving our profitability in 2015, as we bring to market our strong innovation and marketing plans and benefit from the delivery of the cost savings programme."The firm said it was proposing a final dividend per share of 14.8p, up 13.8% on last year and that the board remained confident in the future prospects of the business.Britvic shares were down 2.37% to 680.00p at 08:21 on Wednesday.