Irn Bru drinks maker AG Barr said sales were up 5% in the quarter to January 25, well ahead of the total soft drinks market.
The Cumbernauld-based firm reported periods of “intense competitive trading activity” as brand owners and retailers fought for market share. But it said it decided “not to participate in some of the more aggressive price promotion” that its rivals did, which has underpinned its profit margin.
In the update, AG Barr said it was “cautiously optimistic” about trading this year despite “challenging operating environment and market conditions”.
Last year, a license deal to produce Orangina in the UK for its brand owner, Japanese drinks giant Suntory, came to an end. In its update yesterday, AG Barr said year on year sales growth would be around 3% on a like for like basis, stripping out the loss of sales of the drink.
It said full year revenues are expected to be around £259million, with year on year growth of about 2%. It added that it enjoyed a “renewed sales momentum following a slower third quarter”.
Earlier this week, rival Britvic reported a 1.4% fall in its UK sales revenues in its most recent quarter.
The firm, which also makes Tizer, Rubicon and its franchise energy brand Rockstar -said its core brands performed well across the year in what has been a period of low market growth in soft drinks.
The firm said its £4 million investment to expand its production facility and warehouse in Milton Keynes were making “good progress” which meant it could press ahead with the closure of its site in Tredegar in Wales by February. The closure is expected to affect 40 jobs in Blaenau Gwent.
It’s sponsorship of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was also a success for the firm as it supported sales.
According to company lore, the recipe for Irn Bru is known by only three people in the world – former Chairman Robin Barr, his daughter Julie Barr, who is the firm’s company secretary and legal affairs manager and one other AG Barr board director whose identity remains confidential.
The secret recipe has been passed down from one generation of the Barr family to another since 1901 when was launched by Robert Barr and his son Andrew Greig Barr.