Improvement in Irish drinks market according to Britvic

The Irish soft drinks market has improved, with grocery volumes and value both up in Q1, according to Britvic Ireland.

At the Britvic Annual General Meeting to announce its Q1 interim management results on 27 January, Gerald Corbett, chairman, said that there was an improvement in the Irish soft drinks market, with grocery volumes and value up by 2.8% and 0.7% respectively. The rate of decline in the ROI pub and club channel slowed in the quarter, with a 7% fall in both volume and value. In line with expectations, Britvic Ireland volumes declined by 9.9%, although ARP grew by 1.1% as Ireland lapped a period of intense Britvic promotional activity.

In the quarter, management continued to focus on delivering the more appropriate go-to-market model highlighted during the 2010 preliminary results announcement.  Savings from the structural changes will underpin Britvic Ireland’s profitability in 2011, and details on this new structure will be presented at its investor seminar in March.

Meanwhile Britvic’s international business delivered exceptional revenue growth of 41.5% with ARP growth flattered by the inclusion of a first-time revenue contribution from Fruit Shoot franchise revenues.