Britvic's Irish market continued to trail British and international revenues in the quarter prior to Christmas, the company said today.
While total revenue grew 11 per cent to £242.7 million in the 12-week period ending December 20th, 2009, revenues at the Irish arm of UK-based soft drinks group fell 3 per cent to £48.4 million as Irish shoppers sought out value.
Owned-brand volumes were down by 4 per cent in the quarter.
The company said it held its share in the grocery market, increasing it further in the licensed on-premise market.
Britvic, which owns Ballygowan and Club brands, said volumes are flat in the Irish grocery market, but value showed a decline of 12.8 per cent due to promotions and discounting.
The company said underlying euro revenues were down by 10.1 per cent.
In contrast, British and international revenues grew by 15.2 per cent during the period, with Britvic International accounting for a 5.1 per cent rise.
The company outperformed the British market, with growth in GB carbonates revenue reaching 20.1 per cent, while GB stills grew 9.6 per cent.
Britvic's volume share of the take-home market rose a further 0.4 per cent. The GB stills market grew 3 per cent in volume, driven by categories such as plain water and sports drinks. This outpaced carbonates growth of 1.4 per cent, which saw growth from the cola and glucose/stimulant categories.
Britvic said the licensed on-premise soft drink market also saw some recovery, particularly in November.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected the Irish market to remain challenging, with resilience in the British soft drinks market throughout 2010.
"Given the exceptionally strong performance during the comparative period in 2009, the second quarter would be expected to see a relative slowing of the rate of growth. In addition, adverse weather conditions have been unhelpful in the early weeks of January resulting in a marked slowing of demand and looking ahead, we again remain cautious about the outlook for consumer confidence and spending in the balance of the financial year," the company said.
Britvic said it was confident of meeting the board's expectations for the financial year ending October 3rd, 2010. that will continue to build on our strong track record of revenue, operating profit and margin growth.
