Cocktail drinking at home, the re-opening of hospitality outlets and consumers picking up fizzy drinks while out in the summer sunshine have helped to lift sales at AG Barr.
The company said yesterday revenue was on course to be 18 per cent up in the 27 weeks to August 1 and was likely to come in about £134 million.
AG Barr owns soft drinks brands such as Irn-Bru, Rubicon and Tizer, as well as Funkin Cocktails.
A trading update last month had indicated that sales were strong, with the performance also lifted by new product launches. The Rubicon Raw energy drink was said to have made a particularly positive start, with further investment in it planned this year.
Funkin benefited from on-trade customers restocking its cocktail ingredients and ready-to-drink varieties, while sales for consumption at home also grew over the first half of the year.
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AG Barr confirmed there were still some challenges as a result of the pandemic. In recent weeks the shortage of lorry drivers across the road haulage sector has affected customer deliveries and some parts of its supply chain.
Some elements of the first-half performance were described as “one-off in nature”, such as customer restocking and phased marketing spending, while there was an expectation of price inflation over the coming months.
The company maintained guidance issued last month that pre-tax profit in the 12 months to January was likely to be ahead of £37.4 million it recorded in the 2019-20 financial year, before Covid-19 arrived. It also affirmed plans to reintroduce its dividend during the present financial year.
