C&C cider sales fall as volumes weaken
DRINKS group C&C, the maker of Magners cider, yesterday posted a fall in first-half sales and operating profit and said volumes had dipped at the end of the period.
C&C said cider volumes were flat for the six months to the end of August but had slowed in the last month of the half-year and had continued to slide into September, due to what the company said was a challenging outlook.
The group said that its spirits and liquor volumes were down 15 per cent while revenue for the period was €257.5m (£236.1), down 10.5 per cent or 6.3 per cent on a constant currency basis.
C&C, which bought the Scottish and Irish businesses of Anheuser-Busch InBev last month, said full-year operating profit, without taking account of that deal, would be at the top end of a €77m to €82m range.
Following the £180m AB InBev deal, in which C&C got the rights to Tennent’s, Scotland’s top lager, the firm said it was reviewing its overall marketing spend.
The group said that it believed it was not getting a fair share of the UKcider market and would be working hard to address that.
Chief executive John Dunsmore, who was parachuted into the group from rival Scottish & Newcastle last year, said: “We’ve got a lot on our plates at the moment, and only a week into the Tennent’s acquisition, so we’ll be focusing on that – but in the medium term we want to expand internationally and acquisitions might be the way to go.”