Soft drinks maker Britvic has posted a 16.3% fall in third quarter revenues, after it was hit by the hospitality sector being closed for lockdown.
The company behind Robinsons squash and J2O recorded sales of £328.9 million for the three months to June. Year-to-date revenue declined 5.1% to £1 billion.
It saw significant declines in ‘out-of-home’ consumption. Most bars and restaurants that sold its goods closed in March for the lockdown, and were only allowed to reopen from July 4.
Britvic added however that there was “strong growth” in ‘at-home consumption’, resulting in market value share gains across its business divisions.
Chief executive Simon Litherland said: “As expected, Q3 demonstrates the full market impact of the Covid-19 lockdown. We have continued to focus on the clear priorities we set to navigate through the pandemic, which have helped us to manage our business effectively and to deliver a third-quarter performance in line with our expectations.”
He said he is pleased with performance across the channels open to the business, but warned: “In the near term there remains a high degree of uncertainty about the pace and level of full recovery.”
Litherland said: “Looking further ahead, I am confident that the strong momentum we built up going into the pandemic will return, and that our long-term strategy will continue to create value for all our stakeholders."
Britvic in March warned underlying profits in 2020 could be impacted by £12 million to £18 million per month due to disruption from Covid-19. It made no change to the estimation today.
