Barr (A.G.) Regulatory News (BAG)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1 August 2023

A.G. BARR p.l.c.

("A.G. BARR" or "the Group")

Strong first half performance

A.G. BARR p.l.c., a branded multi-beverage business with a portfolio of market-leading UK brands, including IRN-BRU, Rubicon, FUNKIN and Boost, today announces a trading update for the 26 weeks ended 30 July 2023.

Revenue for the first half of the financial year is expected to be c.£210m (2022/3 : £157.9m). This represents c.33% year-on-year revenue growth - c.10% on a like-for-like basis - excluding the contribution from the Boost Drinks business acquired in December 2022.

The Group delivered revenue and volume growth, reflecting underlying brand momentum, the benefit of higher pricing from early in the year and particularly good weather in June :

● Barr Soft Drinks and Boost Drinks - strong trading performance across the soft drinksdivisions driven by volume growth, pricing and mix, alongside effective sales execution and successful consumer marketing activity

● FUNKIN Cocktails - revenue growth driven by further distribution gains, increased consumer marketing investment and continued exciting innovation, particularly in the retail channel. While cocktail consumption in the on-trade has slowed following last year's post-Covid high, FUNKIN has maintained its position as the UK's Number 1 cocktail brand

● MOMA Foods - brand and consumer marketing investment supporting significant year on year growth, as oat milk outperforms other plant-based milk categories

As anticipated, first half margins remained under pressure but are in line with our expectations. We remain focused on offering consumers great value, affordable brands.

H2 outlook

We exit the first half with strong brand momentum. The Scottish deposit return scheme delay provides us with a more stable and certain consumer environment and enables the accelerated execution of our innovation plans. We now have a number of exciting brand launches planned for the second half of the year.

We continue to progress our strategic brand investment programme at pace across the Group. As previously stated, the current full year Group operating margin will be impacted by persistent cost inflation alongside the known near-term impact of the lower margin Boost division.

We currently expect our full year profit performance to be marginally above the top end of analyst expectations.

Roger White, Chief Executive, commented:

"In March we communicated that 2023/24 would be a year of investment across the business, supporting the Group's long-term revenue and profit growth ambitions. I am pleased to report we have had a strong first half, despite ongoing macro cost challenges. Our focus remains on offering consumers great value, affordable brands. 

Our medium-term plan to rebuild the Group's operating profit margin is progressing well across a range of activities, including supply chain optimisation, cost management and portfolio development. We have strong brand plans in place across the business for the balance of the year to sustain our growth momentum and we remain confident in the Group's long-term growth strategy".

For more information, please contact :

A.G. BARR Instinctif Partners

0330 390 3900 020 7457 2010/05

Roger White, Chief Executive Justine Warren

Stuart Lorimer, Finance Director Matthew Smallwood

Next update : Interim Results - 26 September 2023