Irn-Bru selling strongly as AG Barr profits exceed pre-Covid levels

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has resumed dividend payments after posting a jump in profit and growth across all its brands.

The drinks company recommended a final dividend of 10p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 12p a share, in addition to a 10p per share special dividend.

Subject to approval by shareholders, the final dividend will be paid to holders of ordinary shares on the register as of 12 May 2022 with an ex-dividend date of 10 June 2022. 

Popular: Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has resumed dividend payments after posting a jump in profit

In the year to January, the group’s statutory pre-tax profit climbed 62 per cent to £42.2million on revenue of £268.6million, up 18 per cent from the year before.

Profit before tax and exceptional items came in at £41.5million for the period, marking an increase of 26.5 per cent on a year ago.  

The company enjoyed sales growth across all brands, with core brands now ahead of pre-Covid levels. 

On Irn-Bru, the group said: ‘The IRN-BRU brand grew volume, revenue and gross margin, benefitting from distribution gains in England as well as the reintroduction of IRN-BRU 1901 in Scotland. 

‘Particularly strong growth of single serve cans and smaller PET packs, along with optimisation of promotional mix and price, supported improved margins.’ 

The group’s operating margin before exceptional items grew 83bps to 15.6 per cent. 

Roger White, the group’s chief executive, said: ‘Our business and brands have once again proven their resilience in uncertain and often challenging circumstances.

‘We have accelerated our revenue growth and consequently delivered a strong financial performance. In the year we have recommenced our dividend, alongside paying a one-off special dividend, and our balance sheet has continued to strengthen.’

He added: ‘We enter the new financial year with good momentum and exciting brand and sales plans. Trading in the early weeks of the new financial year has been well ahead of the prior year and in line with our expectations.

‘Like most companies we are facing significant inflationary pressures but we are well placed as a Group to deal with these and will continue to seek to manage our exposure proactively through mitigating actions across revenue management, pricing, procurement and cost control.

‘The growth potential of our business is underpinned by our growing brands, our highly capable people and our resilient infrastructure. We plan to invest further in all of these important areas and I remain confident in our ability to deliver continued growth in both revenue and profit in the coming year.’  

Last month, AG Barr revealed that prices for its drinks had gone up due to inflation.

Bosses at AG Barr said they have seen rising costs for raw materials, including packaging and energy bills, leading to cost-cutting measures, adding that they had ‘adjusted our pricing with customers where appropriate.’

AG Barr shares have jumped today and were up 3.03 per cent or 16.11p to 548.11p just before 10am. The shares have risen by around 5 per cent in the past year.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk