Nichols' profits grow on the back of 'excellent' UK performance

Nichols group sales totalled £142m in the calendar year, an increase of 6.9% year-on-year driven by a 12.6% improvement in its UK sales to £114.6m.

The AIM-listed outfit's flagship Vimto brand "significantly outperformed" the UK soft drinks category, with sales picking up by 12.9% during the year compared to the total UK soft drinks market growth of 7.4%.

Nichols also turned in a "strong sales performance" in some areas abroad, with sales in Africa delivering a 6.5% year-on-year growth.

However, as expected, sales in the Middle East were down 26.1% to £9.6m as a result of the ongoing conflict in Yemen and the timing of certain shipments to Saudi Arabia.

The slip in the Middle East resulted in an 11.6% decrease in international sales.

Nichols said: "In summary, the board is very pleased with the 2018 group sales performance and expects full year profit to be ahead of the prior year and at least in line with current market expectations."

As of 1130 GMT, Nichols shares had climbed 7.64% to 1,550p.