Hot weather boosts Britvic fourth-quarter revenue

17th Oct 2013 10:48

- Q4 revenues up 12.8 per cent- Income boosted by warm weather- Growth experienced in volume and pricingSoft drinks giant Britvic posted 12.8 per cent growth in fourth-quarter revenue, driven by warm weather in July and full availability of Fruit Shoot compared to this time last year. Quarterly revenue grew to £366.4m, while full-year revenue rose 4.4% to £1,321.9m. It said its UK Fruit Shoot market share was back to pre-recall levels and ahead in France and the Netherlands. The children's drinks product was recalled in July last year after the bottle cap was found to be faulty. Volume and pricing growth was experienced in the UK, France and in its International regions. UK carbonates revenue grew by 8.6% as a result of Average Realised Price (ARP) growth of 2.0% and volume growth of 6.7%. Pepsi grew both volume and value market share in the fourth quarter in what the company described as a competitive market. Stills revenue was up 23.2%, driven by ARP growth of 6.2% and volume growth of 16.2%. However, the group did experience a 'marginal' decline in volume in its full-year results, which it said was due to the limited Fruit Shoot availability earlier in the year and the weak Irish market. Despite this, full-year operating profit is expected to be slightly above the top end of the £125m to £131m previous guidance range. Simon Litherland, Chief Executive, said: "We have delivered another strong performance in the fourth quarter, growing volume and revenue in all our business units and increasing our market value share. While we have benefited from the good weather this summer, especially in July, we are particularly pleased to see that Fruit Shoot's market share is now back at pre-recall levels and continues to grow. As a result of this strong fourth quarter performance, we expect that our operating profit will be slightly above our previous guidance. "In each of our markets the consumer environment is challenging as disposable incomes remain under pressure and consumers continue to seek value. As we move into the new financial year our focus is on delivering the new strategy and cost-saving initiatives we communicated in May. We will update on progress in more detail at our Preliminary results on November 26th."The stock also got a boost from broker Canaccord Genuity, which lifted its rating on the stock from 'sell' to 'hold', and raised its target price from 425p to 550p. NR