Fruit Shoot bounce-back and hot summer sweetens Britvic’s sales
BRITVIC shares fizzed yesterday after the soft-drinks maker posted strong sales thanks to the hot summer heatwave and a bounce back in Fruit Shoot’s market share.
The children’s drink had to be taken off shelves last July because of faulty caps on the bottles.
Britvic said its market share in Britain was now back at pre-recall levels and it was performing ahead in the Netherlands and France.
Fruit Shoot’s recovery and demand for thirst-quenching drinks over the summer helped boost Britvic’s sales by 12.8 per cent to £366.4m in the fourth quarter of the year to 29 September.
As a result, the Tango and Robinsons squash-maker said operating profit would be slightly above the top end of the previously guided £125m to £131m range.
“We have delivered another strong performance in quarter four, growing volume and revenue in all our business units and increasing our market value share,” chief executive Simon Litherland said.
The group, which decided not merge with rival AG Barr earlier this year, said full-year revenues grew by 4.4 per cent to £1.3bn.