Drinks group C&C today said it was "confident" it would meet its full-year operating profit guidance, despite a “challenging and unpredictable” trading environment in Ireland.
The company predicted operating profit would be in the range of €102 million and €106 million for the year.
C&C said it continued to see a recovery in Magners GB, with year-on-year volumes rising 4.8 per cent in the three months to November 30th. Export volumes for Magners rose 42.6 per cent in the quarter, with North America and Australia providing most of the growth, and volumes were up almost 37 per cent in the nine-month period.
Although Bulmers volumes in the Republic of Ireland rose 2.4 per cent over the quarter, the cider business continued to experience revenue “deflation” of about 4 per cent. However, this was a slight improvement on the 4.4 per cent decline recorded at the halfway point in the year, and has been partly attributed by the fact that the year on year comparison is no longer being distorted by the reduction in price of the Bulmers pint bottle introduced in June 2009.
Weather had a “severe” impact on pubs in November and December. Magners volumes shipped to the UK on trade fell 19 per cent compared with a year earlier, while total Bulmers volumes shipped across both channels of trade in Ireland were down 5 per cent.
However, this was partly offset by what the company reported as a “robust” performance in the UK off trade for Magners over the Christmas period.
“The poor weather in the UK appears to have encouraged consumers to stay at home, weighting the festive demand further in favour of the off trade as a consequence,” C&C said in a statement.
Off trade volumes for Magners UK were up 52 per cent in December, although the comparative period in December 2009 was weak.
“Whilst the channel mix is inevitably negative for the revenue line, the good performance in the UK off trade leaves us confident that we have now achieved our initial goal of volume growth for Magners in line with the category market growth,” C&C said.
C&C said its acquired businesses, Tennent’s and Gaymers, continued to build on good performances recorded in the half-year results over the quarter to November 30th. The company acquired Tennent's beer business in September 2009, and bought Gaymers cider in February 2010.
