Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 8012P

Britvic plc

23 July 2010

 



Britvic plc ("Britvic") Interim Management Statement

23^rd July 2010

Britvic today reports its third-quarter trading performance. The period covered by this statement ("the quarter") is defined in the notes below.

Group revenue of £289.5m (including Britvic France) in the quarter represents an increase of 16.2% on the prior year, with the underlying GB, International and Irish businesses seeing a combined revenue increase of 6.9%. GB & International revenues in the quarter grew by 6.6% to £223.2m. Britvic France, the newly-created division comprising Fruité Entreprises SA, contributed revenue of £23.2m for the month of June following completion of the acquisition at the end of May 2010. This was in line with expectations.

In the year to date, group revenue (including Britvic France) increased by 8.5% to £794.8m, with the underlying GB, International and Irish businesses delivering a revenue increase of 5.4%. GB & International revenues in the year to date grew by 8.0% to £638.8m. Britvic Ireland's sterling-based revenues were up 8.6% in the quarter, leading to a decelerating year-to-date decline of 5.7%.

The table below breaks down the underlying revenue performance, excluding the first-time contribution from Britvic France:

		% change on last year
		Q3	Year to Date
Volume
	GB Carbonates	13.8	10.1
	GB Stills	(0.7)	1.9
	International	18.6	24.5
	Ireland	15.0	(1.5)
	GROUP	9.6	6.4
Average Realised Price ("ARP")
	GB Carbonates	(0.7)	1.4
	GB Stills	(0.7)	1.2
	International	(4.4)	(5.9)
	Ireland (€)	(1.0)	(4.3)
	GROUP (£)	(2.4)	(0.4)
Revenue
	GB Carbonates	13.2	11.7
	GB Stills	(1.4)	3.0
	International	13.4	17.2
	Ireland (€)	13.1	(6.6)
	GROUP (£)	6.9	5.4

The GB Soft Drinks Market

The 12 weeks to 3^rd July saw the fourth consecutive quarter of growth in the GB take-home soft drinks market, with an increase of 2.5% in volumes and 6.3% in value.  It was also the fourth consecutive quarter in which GB take-home stills category volume growth at 3.2%, exceeded that of GB take-home carbonates at 1.8%. Britvic also delivered market value growth in the overall single-serve on-the-go market, a specific area of focus for the GB business. This growth was markedly in excess of the 8.9% value increase seen by the on-the-go soft drinks market in the quarter.

GB Carbonates

The strong GB Carbonates performance was driven by a continuation of our through-the-line execution programmes, including great brand equity such as the football-based Pepsi Dream Team campaign. The latter drove significant additional volume and value share gain in the quarter for the Pepsi brand, but has also marginally diluted ARP. The GB launch of Mountain Dew Energy and 600ml packs were also particularly strong, both in distribution and rate of sale.

GB Stills

Volume from Britvic GB's Stills portfolio declined by 0.7% in the quarter. This reflects a challenging quarter for Britvic's single-serve still products in Licensed On-Premise, where food-led outlets showed little benefit from FIFA World Cup activity, and consumers continue to see value in dispense offerings.

This has also driven a marginal adverse mix variance on ARP which shows a decline of 0.7%, resulting in overall GB Stills revenue down 1.4%, albeit against the strongest comparative period for GB Stills last year. Year-to-date GB Stills revenue remains in positive territory, up by 3.0%, and our recent GB Stills innovation launches are trading in line with expectations. 

Britvic International

Britvic International's continued strong revenue growth was driven by additional distribution gains, synchronised execution and further account wins, despite a fall in ARP largely due to the mix effect of the strong growth of Drench water within the travel business. Fruit Shoot also gained extended distribution through further trialling arrangements in the US.

Britvic Ireland

Britvic Ireland saw volumes up 15.0% against a ROI grocery soft-drink volume increase of 5.8%. However, both the volume and ARP performance was flattered by the phasing of sales across April in 2010 versus 2009. Britvic Ireland's half-year ends in March, with the Britvic group's half-year end on 12^th April. Both the volume and ARP figures in 2010 benefited in comparison with the same period in 2009 from the timing of Easter and the 2010 implementation of the Business Transformation programme. The underlying three-month volume, ARP (€) and revenue (€) performances were +5.3%, -2.5% and +1.8% respectively and portray a more accurate performance for the Ireland business in Q3.

The structural deflation in Irish food & drink categories continues; the Irish soft drinks market remains volatile, with value declining in the ROI grocery soft-drink market by 2.9% in the quarter, and by 11.3% in the ROI Licensed On-Premise market. This, together with a relatively soft comparable quarter last year, means that we remain cautious that the latest performance is not indicative of a sustained turnaround in the soft drinks market.

Paul Moody, Chief Executive, commented:

"In the third quarter Britvic has demonstrated robust top-line growth across GB, International and Ireland. The expertise we have in through-the-line execution, winning innovation and category insight will further strengthen our new business in France, which is a strategically-important addition to the Britvic group. We continue to remain cautious about consumer sentiment in our trading territories, but as a result of our strong performance in the quarter and in the year to date, the Board remains confident of meeting current market expectations for the full 2010 financial year."

For further information please contact:

Investors:
Craig Marks	[phone]
Media:
Marisa Fitch	[phone]
Tom Buchanan/Giles Croot (Brunswick)	[phone]

Notes to editors

Britvic is a leading independent soft drinks business in Europe. It is one of the two leading branded soft drinks businesses in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and acquired Fruité Entreprises SA in France in May 2010. Britvic's broad portfolio of leading brands includes established names with high brand recognition such as Robinsons, Teisseire, Tango, Club, J₂O, Ballygowan and Fruit Shoot. Included within the portfolio are the Pepsi and 7UP brands, which Britvic produces, markets, sells and distributes under its exclusive appointment from PepsiCo which runs until December 2023 in Great Britain and 2015 in Ireland. This brand and product portfolio enables Britvic to target and satisfy a wide range of consumer demands in all major soft drinks categories, via all available routes to market.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This announcement includes statements that are forward-looking in nature. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Except as required by the Listing Rules and applicable law, Britvic undertakes no obligation to update or change any forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring after the date such statements are published.

Reporting Period

Britvic GB and Britvic International's third-quarter period runs from 12^th April 200 to 4^th July 2010. Britvic Ireland covers the period from 12^th April 2010 to 30^th June 2010, though internally reports on a monthly basis. Please note that Britvic Ireland's volumes and ARP performance exclude the sale of 3^rd-party factored brands.

2010 is a 53-week year for Britvic, with the additional week added to the fourth quarter, which ends on 3^rd October 2010.

Market Data

GB take-home market data referred to in this announcement is supplied by AC Nielsen and runs to 3^rd July 2010.

ROI grocery market data referred to in this announcement is supplied by AC Nielsen and runs to 13^th June 2010.

Next Scheduled Announcement

Britvic will publish its 53-week trading update on 21^st October, with the preliminary results announcement following on 2^nd December 2010.

 

END

 

 

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