FDBusiness.com

UK-based soft drinks group Britvic has unveiled plans to deliver annual savings of £30 million by 2016. These include proposals to close two factories in Great Britain and a warehouse in Northern Ireland as well as the creation of a combined GB and Ireland business unit under a single leadership team.

Britvic intends to increase operational leverage through fewer manufacturing sites by redistributing capacity, reducing the cost base and improving asset utilisation, The group is proposing to close two manufacturing sites at Chelmsford and Huddersfield in the first quarter of 2014. Some Fruit Shoot capacity will be transferred to France, to supply Britvic’s growing European Markets, and Ballygowan will replace current GB water brands, sourced from Ireland

Britvic will fundamentally change its Irish operating model by creating a combined GB and Ireland business unit with a single leadership team, and by separating its licensed wholesale from its core branded business. Britvic plans to close its Belfast warehouse in the fourth quarter of 2013 and to improve factory utilisation by the transfer of capacity from GB to Ireland.

Britvic is targeting £30 million of annualised cost savings by 2016, of which £25 million will be delivered by 2015. The cash cost to deliver these savings, net of property disposal proceeds in 2016, is £40 million. The initiatives to increase operational efficiency and to simplify the organisational structure will lead to an overall reduction in the headcount of between 10% and 15%.

For the 28 weeks ended 14 April 2013, Britvic reported strong profit growth with EBITA rising by 27.6% on prior year to £53.6 million and EBITA margin up 180 basis points.