AG Barr, the soft drinks company, has reported a 12.3% rise in pre-tax profits to £16.6m in the six months to 28 July as it grew volumes sales by 4.2% over the period.
Revenues for the Irn Bru producer rose 5.8% to £128.7m, with value sales for carbonates and still drinks up 7% and 2% respectively.
AG Barr said: “The soft drinks market has benefited from the excellent summer weather, however competition remains intense. Price promotion in the category has continued to accelerate, with the largest brands increasing the depth and quantum of price promotion. In carbonates, our average price per litre has grown ahead of our major competitors.
“Our growth strategy, focussing on developing strong brand equity combined with positive revenue management and driving product distribution into the market, continues to work well. Our core brands have benefited from increased levels of marketing support and growing distribution.”
Underlying earnings per share increased 12.6% to 11.34p and an interim dividend of 2.825p per share was announced, a rise of 8% on the prior year.
Roger White, AG Barr chief executive, said: “We have made good progress across all fronts in the year to date. We successfully navigated the challenging market conditions in the early part of 2013 and have accelerated our growth in the second quarter.
“Our brands, assets and people are all performing well, benefiting from continued high levels of investment. We remain very confident in the long term growth potential of our brands and business.”
During the period a mooted merger between AG Barr and Britvic did not materialise as merger terms could not be agreed.
