Britvic loses its fizz in recession

ONE MORE THING: THE RECESSION continues to take the fizz out of the performance of soft drinks group Britvic in Ireland.

While volumes rose marginally, Britvic Ireland reported a 10 per cent fall year-on-year in revenue to £72.7 million for the 28 weeks to April 15th.

This has prompted it to seek further cost reductions from its 540-strong workforce here.

Chief executive Paul Moody told me yesterday than in “excess of 50” roles would be made redundant this year.

Britvic has also outsourced some distribution and agreed changes to its defined benefit scheme to return it to health.

“What we’re seeing is a continued pressure in licensed , which was down 5 to 6 per cent,” Moody said. “In take home, there’s been an interesting switch with grocery relatively better but impulse weak.

“Consumers are chasing value, retailers are offering value, brands are being heavily promoted. That’s a recipe for a very difficult trading profile.”

Moody said its squash brands – Mi Wadi and Robinsons were “doing well”; Club has achieved “some good recovery” since its relaunch last year; and Ballygowan has enjoyed “good recent success”, including a contract to supply McDonald’s.

“If there is to be a recovery I don’t see it in the next year. It’s a two to three-year outlook I think.”

Moody said the Irish business is profitable “just not as profitable as we wish it to be”.

Especially after shelling out €249 million to buy it from C&C in 2007.

C&C’s chief executive Stephen Glancy recently hinted that it might seek to get back into soft drinks. Might Britvic listen to offers for its Irish division?

“We are still fully committed to the business in Ireland,” Moody said.

“If I had known then what I know now the price might have been different but we are still very pleased with the fundamentals. It’s just a really challenging market.”