Britvic will report results for its fourth-quarter and full-year on Wednesday (30 November). Here, just-drinks brings you the company’s highlights in the 12 months to 2 October.
- Britvic started fiscal 2011 with plans to restructure its operations in Ireland. The Mountain Dew producer announced plans to restructure the division in a bid to benefit from what it hoped would be a “future return to favourable market conditions”.
- However, January saw Britvic cut almost one in seven jobs at its soft drinks business in Ireland, as a result of the country’s weak economy damaging sales and profits. The Tango producer made 100 staff redundant after the Republic’s prolonged recession severely damaged consumer spending in the country.
- Britvic’s share price tumbled the following month, after the UK soft drinks firm made an impromptu warning that higher-than-expected input costs would hit profits in its 2011 fiscal year. The firm forecast that input costs will be between 9% and 11% higher, compared to guidance issued only one month previous of a 5% to 6% increase.
- With Ireland still front of mind, Britvic’s Irish division purchased Co Tyrone-based drinks wholesaler Quinn’s from Tennents Northern Ireland in May, for an undisclosed sum. Quinn’s provides drink wholesale and distribution services to around 800 outlets across Northern Ireland.
- In June, Britvic launched a campaign to support the launch of PepsiCo’s US soft drink brand SoBe Rush in the UK. The company had launched Pure Rush and V Water – both under the SoBe banner – in the UK back in February.
- In August, Britvic and PepsiCo introduced a smaller 25cl can for the Pepsi Max, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi brands in the UK. The launch is expected to be extended to 7UP Free and Tango next spring. Britvic bottles PepsiCo drinks in the UK.
- PepsiCo UK and Britvic joined forces again in September to launch a cross-promotion in the UK across the Pepsi and Doritos brands. The ‘Fire and Ice’ campaign saw the launch of a lime-flavoured Pepsi Max ‘Citrus Freeze’ and a ‘Jalapeno Fire’ variant of Doritos.
- Also in September, ex-Diageo executive Simon Litherland joined Britvic in the newly-created role of UK managing director.