Irn Bru-maker loses its Fizz as sales slow
AG BARR said yesterday it was confident of hitting full-year targets despite reporting a slowdown in third-quarter sales. The Scottish company behind Irn Bru said like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to 30 October fell by 0.6 per cent, blaming tough comparisons with the “very strong growth” in the first half. Revenues for the year-to-date have grown by 3.5 per cent against 0.4 per cent growth for the wider drinks market, according to Nielsen. The group has lost its UK contract to sell Orangina but won the UK licence for Snapple which starts next month.