Strong Christmas provides sales cheer for C&C

Magners cider owner C&C Group said it expected annual operating profit to be in line with current market expectations after resilient Christmas trading despite some adverse weather in Britain.

In the 10-month period to December 2023 the group’s branded net revenue grew 6%, with distribution net sales down 3%.

“While current market conditions remain challenging, mitigating inflationary impacts, improved operating efficiency, business simplification, and gaining customers continue to be the group’s operating priorities in the medium term,” the company said in a trading update on Thursday.

“With increasing confidence in the medium-term outlook for the business and its strong cash generation capabilities, the Board reaffirms its intention to distribute up to €150m to shareholders over the next three fiscal years while maintaining the group’s leverage target of 1.5x to 2.0x.”

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com