Britvic summer sales fizz: Shares rise as soft drinks company raises profit guidance for the year
Britvic shares fizzed as the soft drinks company announced that its summer sales were ahead of expectations.
Its brands, including Robinsons squash and Fruit Shoots, were popular with Britons during the hotter months and the firm has now raised its profit guidance for the year.
Even after lockdown ended in July, Britvic has seen strong demand from shoppers buying its drinks to consume at home.
Sales up: Britvic’s brands, including Robinsons squash and Fruit Shoots, were popular with Britons during the hotter months and the firm has now raised its profit guidance for the year
And it has been given a further boost from the reopening of pubs and restaurants in July.
Britvic did warn that the outlook for 2021 was uncertain, and it sounded a note of caution over further lockdown restrictions and the impact of social distancing on the hospitality industry.
But it said that it was ‘confident in its long-term prospects’, and would look to plough more money into marketing, new products, and sustainability.
Investors were also cheered by a new agreement between Britvic and Pepsico.
The two companies have renewed their 33-year deal which will see Britvic produce, bottle and sell Pepsico drinks such as Pepsi, 7 Up and Mountain Dew in Britain for another 20 years.
Britvic started working with Pepsico in 1987, and by the end of 2022 it plans to make all plastic bottles in Great Britain entirely from recycled material.
This is three years earlier than initially planned, and ahead of the original target of 50 per cent recycled material.
Simon Litherland, who is Britvic’s chief executive, said that the recycling commitment was a ‘significant moment’ for the company.