Core brands such as Bulmers and Magners remain a bright spot for C&C Group (CCR). Volumes for this category were up by 2.6 per cent in the reported period, and the recent partnership with AB InBev - which allows the world's largest brewer to distribute C&C's ciders in Great Britain - will take this further. The group has also picked up on the craft beer trend: premium and craft volumes were up 60 per cent on the previous year.
Closing a plant in Ireland and selling part of its bottling operations helped the group's operating margin rise 110 basis points to 17 per cent. But group revenue fell for the second year in a row, as the highly price-sensitive wholesale and own-label products failed to meet volume expectations, in addition to weak US turnover. And, although the cider maker sounded a note of caution on the UK consumer economy, management was confident that the "enduring nature" of its brands and products means it can trade well through an inflationary environment.
Analysts at Investec expect pre-tax profits of €86.6m in the year to February 2018, giving EPS of 23.6¢ (from €87.2m and 23.8¢ in FY2017).
| C&C GROUP (CCR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 351¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €1.09bn | |
| TOUCH: | 350-352¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 424¢ | LOW: 338¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.1% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 173¢* | NET DEBT: | 32% | |
| Year to 28 Feb | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 724 | 105 | 27.2 | 8.75 |
| 2014 | 913 | 95.5 | 24.7 | 10.00 |
| 2015 | 987 | -67.8 | -24.5 | 11.50 |
| 2016 | 947 | 56.3 | 14.4 | 13.65 |
| 2017 | 818 | -62.9 | -23.5 | 14.33 |
| % change | -14 | - | - | +5 |
Ex-div: 25 May Payment: 14 Jul *Includes intangible assets of €530m, or 1.70¢ a share £1=€1.17 | ||||
