LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Britvic on Wednesday reported a decline in full-year profit as challenging conditions in France and Ireland offset growth in the UK.


The soft drinks producer booked a profit before tax of £110.3m for the 12 months ended 30 September, down 24% from the year before, as administration expenses rose 4% to £256.1m and cost of sales edged up 5% to £734.0m.

With a proposed final dividend of 21.7p per share, the company's full-year dividend was lifted 6% to 30.0p.

Britvic said it endured a challenging year in France, where its prices increased and volumes dropped following the introduction of legislation aimed at re-balancing commercial relationships between smaller suppliers and retailers.

In addition, the company wrote down the value of three of its French juice manufacturing sites by £31.2m ahead of their potential sale to Refresco.

Trading in Ireland was also testing, as sales of water and full sugar carbonated beverages dropped against tough comparatives.

Even so, overall revenue increased by 3% to £1.55bn as Robinsons, R Whites, Tango, Pepsi MAX and 7UP Free beverages all achieved strong sales growth in the UK amid a continued trend towards low and no sugar brands.

Improvements made to UK supply chain infrastructure over the past three years also delivered benefits ahead of previous guidance, with the further cost savings due to be realised next year.

Chief executive Simon Litherland said: "I am confident that Britvic is well placed to capitalise on the future growth opportunities in the years ahead. While we anticipate conditions to remain challenging, we fully expect that we will make further progress in 2020."

At 0910 GMT, the shares were down 1.7% at 968.50p.

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