The widening appeal of iconic Irn Bru helped AG Barr to yet another set of sparkling results. Sales of the cult Scottish soft drink climbed 5 per cent - on top of the 8 per cent increase a year earlier - driven by improved distribution in England and Wales, where it grew volume share by 20 per cent.
Stripping out the full year contribution from exotic juice manufacturer Rubicon, which was acquired in August 2008, and sales climbed by a very respectable 10.6 per cent - way ahead of the overall soft drink market's 2 per cent increase. The integration of Rubicon was completed at a cost of just £0.1m, and the business is said to have been performing ahead of expectations since. But Barr did incur £2.9m of exceptional costs related to a wider restructuring of the group's manufacturing and supply chain operations, which hit reported profits. On an underlying basis, pre-tax profits climbed 20.8 per cent to £27.9m.
Broker Brewin Dolphin expects underlying full-year pre-tax profits of £29.8m and EPS of 56.4p in the year to January 2011 (from 52.9p in 2010).
AG BARR (BAG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 915p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 356m | |
| TOUCH: | 911-927p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 949p | LOW: 580p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 20 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 258p* | NET DEBT: | 22% | |
| Year to 30 Jan | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p)** | Dividend per share (p)** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 129 | 17.4 | 31.5 | 14.7 |
| 2007 | 142 | 16.4 | 34.9 | 17.5 |
| 2008 | 148 | 20.8 | 43.4 | 19.5 |
| 2009 | 170 | 23.2 | 44.6 | 21.0 |
| 2010 | 201 | 24.5 | 46.8 | 23.1 |
| % change | +18 | +6 | +5 | +10 |
Ex-div:05 May Payment:04 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £76.4m or 196p a share **Adjusted for two-for-one share split | ||||
