Q1 Britvic Ireland volumes up 7%

At €44.5 million (£38.1m) Britvic Ireland reported a 6.4% growth in revenue (constant currency) in its Q1 statement for its first quarter which runs from 3rd October to 25th December.

Volumes here were up 7% on the same quarter the previous year, however.

This represents the eighth consecutive quarter of value growth for the company which reported that its licensed wholesale business Counterpoint also performed well.

Britvic Ireland, which has now received permission to go ahead with the takeover of East Coast Suppliers from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, intends to merge ECS with Counterpoint to form the second-largest wholesaler in the market.

Nearly two-thirds of Britvic Ireland’s sales sit in the ‘low-sugar’ and ‘no sugar’ segment of the soft drinks market and the company now holds over 30% of the “no added sugar” market, thus the impact of any proposed new sugar tax will be substantially mitigated claims Britvic.

Revenues at Britvic plc were up 4.3% in Q1 to £351 million (constant currency) on a growth in volume of 3.9%.