Bottler Refresco has reported a growth in gross profit margin to €494 million in the third quarter of its financial year, up from €446 million last year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the period increased to €152 million, from €128 million in the third quarter of 2019.
The company's net profit declined to €14 million during the quarter, from €17 million in 2019, while volumes increased to 3.2 billion litres from 2.9 billion a year ago.
Resilient Business Model
Commenting on the company's performance, Refresco CEO, Hans Roelofs, said, "We have delivered a solid performance this quarter, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our continued growth is a testament to the resilience of our business model, our ability to successfully acquire and integrate companies, and the entrepreneurship and agility of our people."
Refresco added that it will continue to push its merger and acquisition pipeline forward and focus on meeting the demands of its customers.
At the end of September, the company completed the acquisition of three juice manufacturing facilities from Britvic in France.
Outlook
Roelofs stated, "The environment in which we operate will remain unpredictable for the foreseeable future, and changing regional or national regulations related to the pandemic might impact customer demand. However, we are confident that we are able to further strengthen our business as we move further into Q4."
It will continue to prioritise the health and safety of its employees as Europe battles a second wave of coronavirus infections.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.