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(Alliance News) - AG Barr PLC on Tuesday reported that its profit for financial 2022 surpassed pre-pandemic levels on strong trading, leading the company to resume its final dividend to shareholders.
The Cumbernauld, Scotland-based soft drink manufacturer posted a pretax profit of GBP42.2 million for the year 53 weeks to January 30. This reflects a 62% increase from GBP26.0 million in the 52 weeks to January 24, 2021 and a 13% increase from GBP37.4 million in pre-pandemic financial 2020.
This was on revenue growth of 18% to GBP268.6 million from GBP227.0 million.
AG Barr credited its "excellent" financial performance to strong trading performance and cost controls. It noted that all of its brands are in growth, with its core brands ahead of pre-pandemic levels now.
AG Barr said that its strong cash generation and robust balance sheet continue to support capital and dividend programmes.
The company proposed a 10 pence final payout, taking its ordinary dividend for the year to 12p. It had also paid a 10p one-off special dividend in October. The soft drinks maker had paid out nothing in financial 2021 and 4.00p in financial 2020.
AG Barr stated that trading in the early weeks of the new financial year has been "well ahead" of the same period a year before and in line with its 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," Chief Executive Roger White said.
"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," he continued.
AG Barr shares were trading 3.0% higher at 547.81 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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