May 17, 2022

Britvic confident it can navigate cost inflation headwinds "We continue to generate strong cash flow and have increased the interim dividend by 20%," said CEO, Simon Litherland Britvic PLC (LSE:BVIC) has bumped up its interim dividend by 20% to 7.8p and kicked off a £75mln share buyback programme. The soft drinks maker said in its interim results that it is likely to face continued cost inflation and pressure on consumer spending for the rest of the year and into 2023. Revenue in the six months to the end of March rose 16.6% (18.5% on a constant exchange rate basis) to £719.3mln from £617.1mln in the corresponding period 12 months earlier. Strong revenue momentum has continued in April, with double-digit percentage revenue growth year-on-year, in line with the company’s expectations. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped 22.3% to £73.5mln from £60.1mln, while unadjusted EBIT leapt 35.8% to £67.1mln from £49.4mln. The adjusted EBIT margin improved by half a percentage point to 10.2% from 9.7% 12 months earlier. Profit before tax climbed to £59.3mln from half-year profits of £39.8mln the prior year. “We have accelerated revenue growth across our markets and made good progress against our strategic priorities. We have successfully executed pricing and cost actions to mitigate significant levels of inflation, while continuing to rebuild investment to support our near and longer-term growth ambitions,” said Simon Litherland, the chief executive officer of Britvic. “I remain confident ... that we will continue to successfully navigate the headwinds, thanks to our portfolio of leading brands, strong customer relationships, smart revenue management capability and the resilience of our supply chain and our people. This will enable us to maintain our positive momentum, progress our key performance metrics and strategic priorities, and continue to create value for all our stakeholders," he added. Shares in Britvic were down 0.9% at 846p.