Pre Close trading update

RNS Number : 1957W

Barr(A.G.) PLC

26 January 2012

 



A.G. BARR p.l.c.

Pre Close trading update

A.G. BARR p.l.c. (A.G. Barr), the soft drinks group, today updates the market that trading in the final quarter of the financial year has been strong and ahead of a buoyant total soft drinks market.

It is anticipated that like for like total sales in the final quarter will be more than 12% ahead of the prior year, giving a full year like for like growth of circa 6%.  The performance in the final quarter reflects well executed sales plans, a less demanding comparative trading position and excellent consumer demand behind our core brands.

All of our core brands grew during the year.  IRN-BRU continues to deliver consistent long term growth throughout the U.K. and our exotic brands, Rubicon and KA, have performed strongly across the year, with a combined growth well into double digits.  The Barr brand, benefiting from its excellent value for money positioning, has also continued to perform well ahead of the market.

The Company remains on course to meet our expectations for the financial year ending 28 January 2012.

Overall margins are anticipated to be in line with our expectations despite the continuing volatility in a number of key input costs such as sugar, packaging materials and energy.

Our operational performance has continued to improve in the final quarter of our financial year, as we have further improved the output and efficiency of our manufacturing base.

Over the period our free cashflow generation and balance sheet have remained strong, with net debt reducing in line with expectations.

Outlook

Amid the challenging economic environment A.G. Barr continues to offer choice and value across a wider portfolio of brands and to an increasing number of consumers.

Over the course of the next financial year we expect to see continued pressure on consumers' disposable incomes and further input cost inflation, as well as an increasingly competitive market place. However, we do see sales growth opportunities across our core brands as we continue to drive our product distribution and innovation activities.  We will maintain our focus on costs throughout our total operation to ensure our margins are protected.

We are continuing to develop our investment plans regarding our future production capacity in the south of the U.K. and will provide further updates in due course.

A.G. Barr will announce its full year financial results on 26 March 2012.

26 January 2012

Enquiries:

A.G. Barr	Tel:  [phone]
Roger White, Chief Executive
Alex Short, Finance Director
College Hill	Tel:  [phone]
Justine Warren
Matthew Smallwood

 

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