British soft drinks maker Britvic has posted lower third-quarter revenue, as fewer people drank its beverages in public places due to the coronavirus-induced lockdowns.
The company also maintained its previous forecast of a monthly hit to profit from the virus outbreak.
Britvic, whose brands include Tango, J2O, Fruit Shoot and Teisseire, said revenue fell 16.3% to £328.9 million for the three months to June 30, adding that the quarter showed the full market impact of the lockdown.
Clear Priorities
“As expected, Q3 demonstrates the full market impact of the COVID-19 lockdown," commented Simon Litherland, Britvic chief executive. "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."
Litherland added that while he was pleased with the market share gains and performance across the company's business channels, "in the near term there remains a high degree of uncertainty about the pace and level of full recovery," he 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.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
