Soft drinks group Nichols today said its total sales for the year to 31 December rose 9 per cent to £108 million, despite tough trading conditions caused by the record wet weather, and its profits should be “significantly” ahead of the previous year.
The group, which owns the Panda and Vimto and has the UK rights to the Sunkist brand, said sales in the UK were up 10 per cent, compared with growth of just 3.2 per cent for the soft drinks market as a whole.
It added: “This performance is ahead of the UK soft drinks market and has been achieved against last year’s strong comparatives, a challenging UK economy and record wet weather.”
In a trading update ahead of its full-year results, which are due to be released in March, Nichols also reported an 8 per cent uplift in export sale.
The Merseyside-based firm said: “Despite another year of significant cost inflation and high levels of promotional activity, we expect, as a minimum, to maintain our operating margins. This has been achieved by a combination of good cost control and ongoing productivity improvements.
“In summary, 2012 has seen a strong trading performance and we expect group profit and earnings per share to be significantly ahead of last year and ahead of market expectations.”
