New drinks put fizz into Barr figures

Higher sales of fruit drink range Rubicon and Caribbean-influenced Ka offset a sluggish half for Scottish stalwart Irn-Bru as Barr battled against hefty price promotions by its soft drink rivals.

Revenues overall rose by 4 per cent to £124m in the six months to July 31, after a pick-up in sales towards the end of the half lifted second quarter revenues by 5.1 per cent.

Volumes rose by 1.4 per cent and prices by 2.6 per cent as Barr focused on minimising cost increases for customers and kept price promotions to a minimum even though competitors upped promotional activity to offset rising raw material costs.

As as result, profits rose more slowly to £16.2m, up from £16m.

Sales of Irn-Bru declined by 1.2 per cent, but improved in the second quarter with this momentum maintained into the second half.

Rubicon, which sponsors cricket’s t20 tournament, increased sales by 8.8 per cent despite passing on higher fruit prices, while Ka sales jumped by 72 per cent following the launch of Ka stills.

Chief executive Roger White said the soft drinks market has been affected by the recent poor summer weather, but sales in the second half are on track and he expects the group to meet full year expectations. The group also confirmed expansion in the south of the UK to meet growing demand for its range of soft drinks, which also includes Tizer and St Clements juice.

Barr said its recent growth meant plans to increase capacity had been brought forward.