Pre-close Trading Update

RNS Number : 3720N

Barr(A.G.) PLC

29 January 2016

 

                                                                                                                         29 JANUARY 2016

A.G. BARR p.l.c.

("A.G. BARR" or "the Group")

Pre-close Trading Update

A.G. BARR p.l.c., the soft drinks Group, today announces that Group trading performance in the final quarter of the financial year ended 30 January 2016 is expected to deliver revenue growth in excess of 2.5% in the period.  This performance is lapping a prior year fourth quarter revenue growth performance of 5%.

The soft drinks market in the UK has continued to be challenging and highly competitive however our trading strategy, brand activities and execution have delivered a robust market performance in the period.

Business performance has continued to improve across the second half of the year and revenue for the 53 weeks ending 30 January 2016 is now expected to be around £257m. On an ongoing basis*, stripping out the effect of the 53rd week, revenue for the full year is forecast to decline approximately 1.5%.

Across the year, we have tightly controlled our cost base to ensure that our margins remain in line with our expectations.

Our operational investments in efficiency and flexibility have continued to make good progress and all of our current projects are set to be delivered on time and within budget. The implementation issues we encountered in the first half of the year, associated with our Business Process Re-design go-live, have been resolved.

Free cash flow generation and our balance sheet remain strong, enabling us to continue to develop the Group for the long term.

Outlook

Having dealt with the challenges of the first half and successfully managed the festive trading period we are on course to meet our expectations for the year.

While trading conditions are expected to remain challenging, we are confident that the combination of our strong and flexible business model, our differentiated brands and our well invested asset base will allow us to deliver further long term business success.

A.G. BARR intends to announce its full year financial results on 29 March 2016.

For further information, please contact:

A.G. BARR	Tel:  [phone]
Roger White, Stuart Lorimer	Chief Executive Finance Director
Instinctif	Tel:  [phone]
Justine Warren Matthew Smallwood

* Adjusting for the impact of discontinued business and including Funkin Limited acquired in February 2015.

 

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