Britvic has become the latest drinks maker to say it is benefitting from people venturing out more and the hospitality sector reopening.
In a brief trading update, the British firm revealed that its revenues had shot up 22.8% to £384.8m in its third-quarter to 30 June. This helped boost year-to-date revenues, which have increased by 3.1% to just over £1bn.
Britvic highlighted that it had continued to see strong At-Home performance in the UK amid raised demand in supermarkets, with revenue ahead of last year.
However, the easing of lockdown restrictions also led to a “significantly improved” performance in the Out-of-Home (OoH) channel and increased on-the-go consumption. The group stated that its performance was supported by trade restocking ahead of reopening, as well as continued strong consumer demand for its brands.
Britvic said the recovery of the OoH channel in Ireland lagged the UK, reflecting the “different paths out of lockdown”.
Whilst product and pack mix improvements were made in the quarter, the group stressed they had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“As we approach the critical summer trading period, we anticipate making further progress through the rest of this year and delivering profit within the range of current market expectations,” Britvic said.
However, Chief Executive Simon Litherland warned that although the company had shown positive results, there was still room for the pandemic to change trading conditions.
“Some degree of uncertainty remains for now, however, as the full course of the pandemic is still unknown. That said, the momentum we had built up going into the pandemic has stood us in good stead throughout, and I am confident that we will continue to navigate our way through it.”
Coca-Cola yesterday raised its full-year sales forecast after posting a 42% rise in second-quarter revenues. Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr and premium tonic brand Fever-Tree also issued similar upbeat statements earlier this week.
NAM Implications:
- Patently hospitality and OoH demand is increasing…
- …but not to pre-Lockdown levels.
- Meanwhile, a renewed focus on retail by suppliers dependent on both channels…
