TIDMBAG

RNS Number : 3720N

Barr(A.G.) PLC

29 January 2016

29 JANUARY 2016

A.G. BARR p.l.c.

("A.G. BARR" or "the Group")

Pre-close Trading Update

A.G. BARR p.l.c., the soft drinks Group, today announces that Group trading performance in the final quarter of the financial year ended 30 January 2016 is expected to deliver revenue growth in excess of 2.5% in the period. This performance is lapping a prior year fourth quarter revenue growth performance of 5%.

The soft drinks market in the UK has continued to be challenging and highly competitive however our trading strategy, brand activities and execution have delivered a robust market performance in the period.

Business performance has continued to improve across the second half of the year and revenue for the 53 weeks ending 30 January 2016 is now expected to be around GBP257m. On an ongoing basis*, stripping out the effect of the 53rd week, revenue for the full year is forecast to decline approximately 1.5%.

Across the year, we have tightly controlled our cost base to ensure that our margins remain in line with our expectations.

Our operational investments in efficiency and flexibility have continued to make good progress and all of our current projects are set to be delivered on time and within budget. The implementation issues we encountered in the first half of the year, associated with our Business Process Re-design go-live, have been resolved.

Free cash flow generation and our balance sheet remain strong, enabling us to continue to develop the Group for the long term.

Outlook

Having dealt with the challenges of the first half and successfully managed the festive trading period we are on course to meet our expectations for the year.

While trading conditions are expected to remain challenging, we are confident that the combination of our strong and flexible business model, our differentiated brands and our well invested asset base will allow us to deliver further long term business success.

A.G. BARR intends to announce its full year financial results on 29 March 2016.

For further information, please contact:

 
 
   A.G. BARR            Tel: 01236 852400 
 Roger White,         Chief Executive 
  Stuart Lorimer       Finance Director 
 
   Instinctif           Tel: 020 7457 2020 
 Justine Warren 
  Matthew Smallwood

* Adjusting for the impact of discontinued business and including Funkin Limited acquired in February 2015.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

TSTPGUMWGUPQGMR

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2016 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

Barr (a.g.) (LSE:BAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Barr (a.g.) Charts.
Barr (a.g.) (LSE:BAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Barr (a.g.) Charts.