Drinks

Irn Bru Maker AG Barr Takes Pandemic Hit

By Dave Simpson
Irn Bru Maker AG Barr Takes Pandemic Hit

AG Barr, which is known for making Scottish fizzy drink Irn-Bru, has posted a near 63% slump in half-year profits as this year's coronavirus restrictions weakened sales in pubs and other outlets.

"While UK-wide lockdown measures have been gradually lifted, there remains a continued high degree of uncertainty associated with further potential COVID-19 outbreaks, such as significant localised lockdowns, and the resulting impacts," AG Barr said.

The company said that sales of Irn Bru itself grew marginally, while reporting an overall 8% slide in revenues to £113.2 million for the period.

Even assuming that the UK does not enter a further significant period of lockdown, the Rockstar and Rubicon maker said that it expects full year revenue for the year ending January 2021 to be in the region of 12%-15% below last year.

It had said in July that it expected revenue to fall by up to 15% this year.

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Dividend Position And Profit Before Tax

The Cumbernauld-headquartered company added that its dividend position remains under review, but that it expects to resume payments next year.

The soft drinks maker said that profit before tax fell to £5.1 million for the six months that ended on July 31, 2020, compared with £13.5 million a year earlier.

News by Reuters, edited by Hospitality Ireland. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.