Britvic PLC’s Chief Financial Officer John Gibney will retire in April next year, the company said Wednesday as it announced half year profit rise and maintained its full year guidance.
The maker of soft drinks recorded pretax profit of 49.7 million pounds ($76.7 million) during the 28 weeks ended April 12, compared with GBP37.1 million a year earlier. Group’s revenue fell to GBP650.3 million from GBP670.7 million as volume and average revenue per liter sold or ARP were marginally down.
“We have made significant progress executing our strategy which will continue to create sustainable value for shareholders. Whilst we expect trading conditions to remain challenging, guidance for the current year is unchanged,” Chief Executive Officer Simon Litherland said.
Full year earnings before interest and tax or Ebit guidance remains unchanged at GBP164 million to GBP173 million, the company, which houses Robinsons, J(2)O, Fruit Shoot and Tango among its portfolio added.
Britvic increased interim dividend by 9.8% to 6.7 pence, to reflect earnings growth and confidence in future prospects, it added.
Britvic also said it has initiated a process to appoint Gibney’s successor and it is anticipated that there will be a period of overlap to ensure a smooth transition.
By Razak Musah Bab
