FDBusiness.com

Britvic, the UK and international soft drinks producer, has reported a 2.6% decline in revenue to £1.256 billion for the year ended September 30th 2012, due primarily to the Fruit Shoot recall which materially impacted on the group’s stills performance in Great Britain as well as on its international and French businesses.

Britvic performed strongly in the GB carbonates sector during the year, achieving revenue growth of 3.1%. However, revenue declined by 9.6% at the troubled Britvic Ireland business. Strong pricing growth in France of 10.9% resulted in revenue growth of 8.0%.

“Francehas delivered a strong pricing platform and excellent revenue growth against a toughening consumer environment,” says Paul Moody, chief executive of Britvic. “Conditions in Ireland remain challenging as a consequence of the macro-economic environment but we are successfully maintaining market share.”

He adds: “Following the Fruit Shoot recall in July, we have been focused on returning supply to normalised levels. Concurrently, we have been driving an improving performance from the strong brands across the group. A further key brand priority has been to ensure that we build and realise the value of our emerging US Fruit Shoot business. We continue to place a strong emphasis on cash generation and rigorous cost management across the group.”

Talks between Britvic and AG Barr, a rival UK soft drinks producer, about a proposed all share merger are still ongoing.