IMMEDIATE RELEASE
28 January 2025
A.G. BARR
p.l.c
Trading
Update
Sustained revenue growth
and double digit profit growth
A.G. BARR p.l.c., the multi-beverage
business with a portfolio of market-leading UK brands including
IRN-BRU, Rubicon, Boost and FUNKIN, today announces a trading
update for the full year ended 25 January 2025
(2024/25).
Revenue in 2024/25 is expected to
be c.£420m (2023/24: £400m), representing c.5% year-on-year
growth.
Full year adjusted operating margin is expected
to show strong improvement to c.13.5% (2023/24:12.3%), helping to
drive double digit profit1 growth.
Highlights
● Soft
Drinks: All three core soft
drinks brands - IRN-BRU, Rubicon and Boost - performed
strongly. Rubicon was the stand-out performer, achieving
another year of double digit revenue growth. IRN-BRU also
delivered strong revenue growth and is now one of the top five
carbonates in the UK. The Boost strategy, to focus on value over volume and
synergy benefits, gained momentum in H2 with a step up in
profitability. The brand is now fully integrated into our
commercial operation and the insourcing of manufacturing remains on
track.
●
FUNKIN: FUNKIN's
ready-to-drink business continued to grow at pace through retail
distribution gains and innovation. This went some way to
mitigate on-going challenges within the on-premise
market.
●
Strategic
Programme: We have successfully
completed the projects to strengthen our convenience channel route
to market and integrate Boost into our Soft Drinks business.
These projects deliver significant commercial and operational
synergies. As previously advised, they give rise to a one-off
cost of c.£5m in the 2024/25 financial year, which will be treated
as an adjusting item.
●
Capital
Investment: The multi-year
supply chain investment programme continues on plan, supporting
brand growth, efficiency improvements and synergy
benefits. Overall
capital spend in the year of c.£19m included a new small format PET
line and an upgraded large format PET line at our Cumbernauld site,
providing increased capacity and capability.
● Balance Sheet & Cash Flow: We
remain a highly cash generative business, ending the year with more
than £60m of net cash (2023/24: £53.6m).
● People: Our talent development
continues with the roll-out of a refreshed employee development
programme and we are pleased to have welcomed a new Chief
Commercial Officer, Dino Labbate, who joined in January
2025.
Euan
Sutherland, Chief Executive, commented:
"A.G. BARR is in line to deliver
another year of strong top line growth, margin improvement and cash
generation. These headline metrics highlight excellent
progress towards our long-term financial goals. We have
sustained brand momentum despite the well trailed wider market
pressures, and continue to make good progress towards our margin
target.
We are committed to consistent
long-term revenue growth and have confidence in further margin
improvement as per our previous guidance. Our expectations
for 2025/26 are unchanged and in line with market
expectations2."
Future Events
Full year results for 2024/25 year
will be reported on 25 March 2025. In addition, the business
plans to hold analyst and investor visits to its Cumbernauld and
Milton Keynes sites in the spring and a Capital Markets event in
June.
Proposed analyst and investor factory
and market visit dates are as follows:
Cumbernauld 23 April 2025
Milton Keynes 15 May 2025
Notes
1 -
adjusted profit before tax
2 -
Analyst consensus:
● FY 2024/25:
revenue £420.1m; adjusted PBT £57.4m; adjusted operating margin
13.4%
● FY 2025/26:
revenue £439.4m; adjusted PBT £65.0m; adjusted operating margin
14.5%
Note: This is based on estimates
of analysts who have updated forecasts over the past 6
months
For more information, please contact
:
A.G.
BARR
Instinctif
Partners
0330 390
3900
020 7457 2010/05
Euan Sutherland Chief Executive
Justine Warren
Stuart Lorimer, Finance Director
Matthew Smallwood
Hannah
Scott
