Trading Update

Britvic plc 17 October 2007 17th October 2007 ----------------- Britvic plc ('Britvic') Trading Update -------------------------------------- Britvic today reports robust trading in the 52 weeks to 30th September 2007, with branded revenue growth of 3.7% to £702.5m compared with the same period last year, driven by stills up 3.9% and carbonates up 3.0%. All figures in this update are before any contribution from the recent acquisition of the soft drinks businesses of C&C Group plc (Britvic Ireland) on 29th August 2007. Branded revenue for the 24 weeks to 30th September 2007, the period since the last update to the market, was down 1.5%, with stills down 0.3% and carbonates down 3.1%. This illustrates a resilient performance against the backdrop of extremely poor summer weather and tough 2006 comparatives, which benefited from an above average summer and a high level of promotional activity based around the football World Cup. In stills, Britvic continues its strong outperformance of the market in all of its key categories driving revenue growth. J2O, Fruit Shoot and Robinsons squash consolidated their position as market-leading brands, the latter performing particularly well in large pack. The recent relaunch of Drench, as our take-home water offering is showing very promising signs, while Pennine Spring, the third-largest on-premise water brand, displays continued good growth. Fruit Shoot H20 continues to deliver a strong performance. The recently-launched Robinsons pure juice brands, Smooth Juice and Fruit Shoot 100%, have performed in line with management expectations given the poor weather. In carbonates, Britvic has delivered a solid performance, driven by further market share gains by Pepsi and a strong performance from 7UP. A continued focus on promotional effectiveness, especially over the summer, has, combined with improved pack mix, led to a growth in average realised price over the period. The revenue performance has also benefited from distribution gains in the discounters sector, mainly achieved during the first half of the year. Britvic recently completed, as planned, both the outsourcing of its secondary retail distribution network to KNDL and the acquisition of Britvic Ireland. Neither transaction had a material impact on the group's performance during the period. Paul Moody, Chief Executive commented: 'We have actively grown market share across our key categories, and our brands have performed very well, despite the poor summer weather which presented extremely difficult trading conditions for the soft drinks market. We have continued to deliver on our strategy of improving average realised price and managing cost, and consequently we expect to at least deliver our ambition of increasing operating profit margin by 10-15 basis points. We are confident that our profits for the year will be within the range of current market expectations, before any contribution from Britvic Ireland.' The Company's next update to the market will be with its Preliminary Results for the 52 weeks to 30th September 2007 on 29th November 2007. For further information please contact: Investors: John Gibney/ Craig Marks 01245 504 330 Media: Tom Buchanan / Muna Hamza (Brunswick) 0207 404 5959 Emma Peacock / Susan Turner (Britvic) 01245 261871 There will be a conference call today at 9.30am for investors and analysts with Paul Moody (Chief Executive) and John Gibney (Finance Director) and a further conference call at 2.30pm (9.30am Eastern Standard Time) today primarily for US investors and analysts. There will be an opportunity on both calls to ask questions. Access Number: Pin Number: -------------- ----------- 9.30am call UK +44 (0)20 8609 0205 566466# 2.30pm call UK +44 (0)20 8609 0205 566466# US 1 866 793 4279 A recording of both calls will be available for seven days. Redial Number: Conference Reference: -------------- --------------------- 9.30am call UK +44 (0)20 8609 0289 189075# US 1 866 676 5865 2.30pm call UK +44 (0)20 8609 0289 189078# US 1 866 676 5865 Notes to editors ----------------- Britvic is one of the two leading branded soft drinks businesses in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Company is the largest supplier of still soft drinks, the faster growing category in the soft drinks market, and the number two supplier of carbonates. Britvic's broad portfolio of leading brands includes established names with high brand recognition such as Robinsons, Tango, J20 and Fruit Shoot. Included within the portfolio are the Pepsi and 7UP brands, which Britvic produces, markets, sells and distributes under its exclusive appointment from PepsiCo which runs until December 2023 in Great Britain and 2019 in Ireland. This brand and product portfolio enables Britvic to target and satisfy a wide range of consumer demands in all major soft drinks categories, via all available routes to market. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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Britvic (BVIC)
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