Financial headlines 1
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Revenue grew by 5.6% to £279.0m (2018 : £264.1m) |
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Profit before tax and exceptional items* increased by 2.5% to £45.2m (2018 : £44.1m) |
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Statutory profit before tax was £44.5m, reflecting a one-off past service pension charge of £0.7m (2018 : £44.9m) |
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Basic earnings per share before exceptional items* increased by 2.3% to 32.03p (2018 : 31.30p) Basic earnings per share decreased by 2.3% to 31.51p (2018 : 32.25p) |
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Net cash position at year end of £21.8m (2018 : £15.0m) |
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Proposed final dividend of 12.74p per share (2018 : 11.84p) to give a proposed total dividend for the year of 16.64p per share, an increase of 7.0% over the prior year |
Strategic highlights
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Successfully delivered reformulation plan with 99% of soft drinks portfolio currently exempt from soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) |
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Significant increase in volume share within the total UK soft drinks market |
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IRN-BRU brand benefited from continued focus on increasing distribution |
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IRN-BRU sugar free variants now account for 40% of the total IRN-BRU brand |
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Strong trading performance in strategic growth market of England and Wales |
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Innovation continues to support growth, particularly Rubicon Spring, IRN-BRU XTRA and Funkin |
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Commitment to introduce a minimum of 30% recycled material into our PET bottles by 2022 |
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£30m share repurchase programme expected to complete during the course of 2019 |
Roger White, Chief Executive, commented:
“At the outset of 2018 we set out a clear strategy and specific actions which we believed were required to deliver continued financial success during what we forecast to be a year of significant changes across our industry. I am pleased to report we have delivered another strong financial performance having adapted well to both the circumstances we anticipated and those which were less expected.
It is with this backdrop in mind that I emphasise the flexibility and strength of our business model, people and brands, all of which continue to deliver consistently.
We have grown revenue by 8.0% and 5.6% respectively over the past two years reflecting the growth potential of our business. Whilst the uncertainty across the UK economy is likely to prevail for the foreseeable future, we have consistently demonstrated over the long-term that our strategy and execution are fit for purpose and resilient. The markets in which we operate are robust and provide us with continued opportunities to grow.
We have exciting plans to deliver across the Group and are confident of continuing to make further progress in the coming year.”