Barr (a.g.) Share Discussion Threads

[curlylocks] 26/1/2011 08:19

AG Barr sales still fizzing
Wed 26 Jan 2011

BAG - AG Barr

Latest Prices
Name Price %
AG Barr 1,077.00p 0.00%

FTSE 250 11,520 +0.16%
FTSE 350 3,154 +0.60%
FTSE All-Share 3,085 +0.49%
Beverages 9,390 +0.24%

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Final quarter sales at soft drinks group AG Barr, best known for its Irn Bru and Tizer brands, is expected to be around 5% ahead of the previous year after a strong performance from its core brands.

Full year like for like growth is expected to be around 10%, the group said in Wednesday's trading update.

"The performance in the final quarter is especially pleasing given the strong comparative period in the prior year, the significant operational challenges posed by weather in late November/December and the greater promotional intensity experienced in the market," said the Scottish drinks maker.

Rubicon saw revenue grow by over 30% during the year and is now a brand with sales of approximately £50m, double the sales at the time of its acquisition.

However AG Barr also issued a cautionary note about pressures on household spending and rising inflation in the UK over the coming year.

"Despite this difficult economic environment we anticipate further sales growth opportunities through our core brands. The investments we have made in our asset base to improve efficiency together with tight cost control and price increases will continue to help offset rising commodity costs."

Across 2011/12 we expect to maintain our focus on delivering above market sales growth, strong cash generation and a robust margin profile, it added.

[nellie1973] 20/1/2011 18:16

Broker upgrade

[nephie] 06/1/2011 12:09

Nichols plc

Pre-Close Trading Statement and Board Changes

"Group profit significantly ahead of last year and ahead of current market expectations"

Nichols plc, the soft drinks group, announces its Pre-Close Trading Statement and the appointment of Mr Eric Healey as a Non-Executive Director.

Pre-Close Trading Statement:

I am pleased to report the excellent trading performance seen in the first half year has continued into the second half of 2010. This has been achieved against very strong comparatives in 2009.

Full year 2010 revenues are once again well ahead of our internal plans, with operating margins that will be in line with plan. The Group's balance sheet has been strengthened and underlying cash generation will also be ahead of expectations.

In overall terms we expect the Group's profitability for the year to 31 December 2010 to be significantly ahead of last year and ahead of current market expectations.

[cambium] 07/10/2010 15:53

Scottish soft drinks maker A.G. Barr said yesterday it had built on last year's strong overall performance with a very positive start to the 2010-11 financial year.

Chief executive Roger White said after the company revealed results for the six months to July 31: "We have achieved sales growth well in advance of the market for our core brands and during the period have further increased our marketing investment.

"As planned, we have delivered significant operational changes across the summer, which has proved to be testing. However I am pleased to report good progress across our supply chain and our production investment. We are up against tougher comparatives in the second half of the year but, while we remain cautious regarding the overall economic and consumer outlook, we believe we are well-positioned to meet our expectations for the full year."

A.G. Barr reported yesterday pre-tax profits before exceptional items for the half-year of £16million, up 18.8% on a year earlier.

Turnover for the period was up 13.9% to £119.2million.

The company said key brands had performed well, with Irn-Bru growing revenue by 8%, helped by increased marketing investment particularly in the north of England.

Rubicon also continued to deliver significant growth, increasing sales by 37% in the period, while a third core brand, Barr, was another to perform significantly better than the overall UK soft drinks market.

A.G. Barr said the soft drinks market gained momentum during the period, benefiting from good weather in the early summer months of May, June and into early July. The market in total grew by 7% in value terms and 3% in volume terms. Within this, carbonated drinks increased volume by 2% and still drinks grew volume by 4%.

It added: "We are now entering a period of tough comparable trading performance. A.G. Barr has delivered a strong and balanced business performance across the first half and in the second half we plan to maintain our efforts to control costs at the same time as we continue to invest in our brands and infrastructure to drive future growth.

"Despite poor late summer weather, trading in the first few weeks of the second half has continued to give us confidence that we will meet our full-year expectations."

Analysts expect the company to achieve full-year pre-tax profits of £31.1million on turnover of £219.1million, up from profits of £24.45million and turnover of £210.4million the year before.



Read more:

[cambium] 04/10/2010 09:53

Its shares are highly rated, but AG Barr has a great growth record.

What images come into your head when you think of the word "Scotland"?

It's very likely that your answers will include several words from this list: whisky, haggis, bagpipes, kilts, football, tartan, highlands and Hamish Macbeth (okay, the last one is a bit of an outside bet!).

But if you're Scottish there's a very strong chance that your list includes Irn-Bru, commonly known as "Scotland's other national drink." Irn-Bru is made by the Cumbernald-based firm AG Barr (LSE: BAG) and, even though many Sassenachs have never heard even of it, Irn-Bru is the third-best selling soft drink in the United Kingdom.

Barr recently turned in an excellent set of results for the first half of 2010 with earnings per share increasing by 18% whilst the dividend was raised by 8%. Growth like this isn't a one-off; compare the 30.4p earned over the six months with the 30.4p made in the whole of 2005. That's some strong growth!

Coming to a supermarket near you
Naturally growth like Barr is producing doesn't come cheap. I looked at Barr last February in this article when the shares were 830p and since then they have performed strongly, rising to the current level of 1,210p. As a result Barr's shares remain on a high price-earnings ratio (22.9 pre-exceptional items, 26.0 post-exceptional).

Companies which have grown strongly in recent years tend to trade on high P/E ratios because of investors' willingness to pay more for a growing company. If we compare Barr's P/E ratio with its growth rate, P/E 23 vs. 18% eps growth, we get a PEG ratio (price-earnings-to-growth) of 1.28 which many investors would consider to be expensive.

Legendary investor Peter Lynch advises private investors that they can sometimes spot a successful company before the market picks up on it by going to the shops and seeing what goods are selling well.

I've applied this method to Barr's products in the last few months and have seen more and more Irn-Bru appearing English supermarkets (and even a few corner shops in Devon). Many of Barr's other brands such as Rubicon and Strathmore Mineral Water are also attracting a higher profile in England.

Unfortunately Barr's growth prospects aren't exactly a secret!

It looks as if Barr should continue to grow for some time, as there's plenty of scope to increase sales in England, let alone overseas, so it can be argued that Barr is well placed to expand and the business could justify its high P/E ratio.

Powerful marketing campaigns
Barr strongly supports its products with advertising and marketing. For example, Irn-Bru's expansion into England has been spearheaded by its sponsorship of professional rugby league to create strong brand awareness in the North of England (Irn-Bru sales rose by 8% in the first half of 2010).

Sales of Rubicon jumped by 37% in the last six months, thanks in large part to a £5 million advertising campaign which included sponsoring Sky's coverage of the Twenty20 World Cup. Rubicon's profile received an even bigger boost when England won the trophy because more English viewers would have continued to watch the tournament than if England had made an early exit.

Thankfully for Barr, England's cricketers have been much more successful than the football team!

So whilst many Scots were supporting Australia against in England in the final, Barr's shareholders were cheering England's success before the match was played!

Barr has a reputation for creating controversy with its edgy Irn-Bru adverts and has been on the receiving end of several reprimands by the authorities as a result. The current Irn-Bru advertising campaign, "Bruzil" concerns Scotland's quest to win the 2034 World Cup where the masterplan is to make babies with Brazilians who will then grow up to become star players like "Aberdinho" and "Flavio McFadden."

Somehow I can't imagine an English drinks company running a similar campaign! You can find the Bruzil campaign website here (you may want to turn down your speakers).

A few more points
Barr has a strong balance sheet, with £212 million of assets compared with £108 million of liabilities of which just under £30 million is debt.

Forecasts for Barr's earnings per share for the whole of 2010 mostly range between 55p and 60p which puts the shares on a prospective P/E ratio of between 20 and 22.

Barr is an interesting company, with strong growth prospects although many prospective investors will be put off by the high share price as it doesn't give you much of what Warren Buffett calls "a margin of safety." But as I said in my previous article about Barr, don't be surprised if Coca-Cola or PepsiCo tries to buy the company one day.

[rafieh] 28/9/2010 07:54

Reassuringly solid figures.
Soft drinks brands may not sound like exciting investments, but shares in Coca Cola rose from little more than $1 in 1982 to $80 in the 90s.

[cambium] 26/9/2010 11:40

Irn-Bru manufacturer AG Barr will start a run of good news for Scottish food and drink favourites next week when chief executive Roger White is due to uncork impressive interim results.

The figures will be followed by improved returns from the owners of Lees Snowballs and Lightbody Cakes.

Anticipation of Barr's results saw shares climb towards all-time peaks of more than 1250p in the stock market last week, up 60% in the past year and more than six times their level at the start of the decade.

Analyst Nicola Mallard at Investec believes the results will justify the upsurge, and looks for a 13% lift in sales, with half-year profits from £13.5 million to around £16.3m.

Sales were helped by reasonable weather in the early summer and a decision to step up the group's marketing spend.

Most observers believe the latest growth figures are unlikely to continue for the rest of the year as the company runs into tougher comparatives, but brokers expect total profits to rise from below £28m to around £31m.

[cambium] 13/9/2010 10:53

Todays the first day that it hits £13, where to from here

[cambium] 02/9/2010 16:16

Stagecoach finance director Martin Griffiths has taken a non-executive position on the board of Irn-Bru producer AG Barr as drinks industry veteran James Espey steps down.

Griffiths is 44 years old, but has been finance director of Stagecoach for a decade and is effectively the right-hand man to Brian Souter, founder of the Perth-based rail and bus group.

Ronnie Hanna, chairman of AG Barr, said: "He brings a wealth of experience which will complement the balance of the board."

East Kilbride-based AG Barr has a market value of £485m, less than half that of Stagecoach, but is well known in Scotland and increasingly outside the country for its flagship orange fizz.

Mr Griffiths has experience as a non-executive director serving on the boards of recruitment company Robert Walters and, until the end of August, Troy Income & Growth Trust.

AG Barr announced that former Seagram Distillers chairman James Espey, who has served on its board since 1999, will retire at the end of January 2011. He is the company's senior independent director and chairman of its remuneration committee.

Mr Hanna said that during Espey's tenure AG Barr has "expanded significantly".

"James has contributed to this with his wide-ranging consumer goods experience and unique insight," he said.

[cambium] 20/8/2010 20:07

Trucking group Stobart, whose Eddie Stobart lorries are a common site on Britain's motorways, said its business had made a strong start to the year thanks to new multi-million pound contracts with Irn Bru maker AG Barr and Tesco.

The haulier, which is recasting itself as a transport group by offering rail, air and sea freight as well as warehousing services, said its performance in the first six months of the year was in line with management expectations and "significantly ahead" of the same period last year. "We expect continued growth in the second half as new contracts start to deliver, whilst we recognise the economic environment remains challenging," said its chief executive Andrew Tinkler.

Stobart said volumes at trucks division Eddie Stobart were "strong" thanks to a recent deal – worth about £7m a year – to provide transport and warehousing for Scottish drinks group AG Barr which also makes Tizer. Other notable wins include a £25m-a-year distribution contract with Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco.

[cambium] 05/8/2010 16:08

Graet read over from Nichols

[cambium] 29/7/2010 17:57

Scottish soft drinks maker A.G. Barr Plc (BAG.L: News ) in its pre close trading update for the 26 weeks to July 10, said that it expects full year trading performance to be ahead of management's expectations.

It expects total sales revenue to reach GBP 118 million for the six month period ending July 31, an increase of 13% on the prior year.

The group noted that sales continued to perform ahead of the market and soft drinks market saw sustained growth in the first half of the 2010 calendar year. The company said that this growth accelerated over the early summer period with total soft drinks growing 7.1% in value terms in the thirteen weeks to July 10, as many parts of the UK enjoyed fine weather.

"We have successfully carried much of the sales momentum achieved last year into the first half of this year. The combination of a strong core business and the growth possibilities offered by the Rubicon brand have delivered excellent sales in the six months to 31 July 2010. In the second half we face tougher year on year comparative trading conditions and expect our performance to return to levels more in line with the overall soft drinks market," commented the company

[cambium] 22/4/2010 13:39

AG Barr has appointed PHD North to handle the media planning and buying for its exotic juice brand Rubicon.

The appointment sees media for Rubicon, which has previously been handled through Rubicon's ad agency Fantasia Advertising, consolidated at PHD North with other AG Barr brands, such as Irn Bru and Orangina.

Drum PHD, PHD's content and sponsorship agency, is also working on the business and has brokered a deal for Rubicon to sponsor a 'Summer of Cricket' on Sky Sports.

This year, AG Barr plans to spend £5m on marketing support for the Rubicon brand, and the cricket sponsorship will open with support of Sky's coverage of the upcoming ICC World Twenty/20 tournament in the West Indies.

The Sky cricket sponsorship will be supported by in-store activity and a range of cricket-related activity throughout the year.

Jason Spencer, managing director of PHD North, said: "The Sky sponsorship, coupled with other marketing activity across the year, gives us a great platform to deliver pioneering work for an ambitious client."

[cambium] 19/4/2010 14:26

Rubicon are sponsoring the Cricket in India

[cambium] 01/4/2010 15:42

not that I know of, although anything is possible here or at NICL or Britvic

[strollingmolby] 01/4/2010 14:00

Making new highs here now - is a bid expected (per post 84) ?

[cambium] 25/3/2010 15:13

something a foot............:o)

[cambium] 22/3/2010 15:19

PepsiCo (PEP) will look at making small "tuck in" acquisitions and alliances to expand globally and to ramp up sales in its nutrition business, Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said Monday.

PepsiCo recently completed the acquisition of its two largest bottlers, and Nooyi said the company will now lean toward smaller deals or alliances that complement existing operations. A big focus for the company now is to increase its sales of products to consumers looking for healthier and more nutritional food options.

The company aims to increase the sales of such healthier products to $30 billion in 2020 from $10 billion in 2009. Part of that emphasis will be to build on existing brands like Quaker Oats or Tropicana that bring some health benefits to consumers.

[cambium] 22/3/2010 14:55

AG Barr said profit on ordinary activities before tax and exceptional items increased by 20.8% to £27.9m in the year to 30th January, up from £23.1m. Turnover increased 18.7% to £201.4m in the year.

The Irn-Bru makers said like for like sales, stripping out the impact of the Rubicon acquisition and the 53rd week in 2008/09, increased by 10.6%.

Basic earnings per share (pre-exceptional) 53.29p an increase of 20.5%.

The proposed final dividend is 16.85p per share to give a proposed total dividend for the year of 23.1p per share, an increase of 10% over the previous year.

Core carbonate brands and still juice brands both grew well ahead of the market.

The IRN-BRU brand increased revenue by over 5% with strong growth in England and Wales.

Rubicon performed ahead of expectations following integration.

Cash flow remained strong generating £17.9m of free cash flow in the period.

Barr reported lower than anticipated net debt of £22.1m at year end - prior year net debt £31.3m.

Roger White, CEO, commented: 'The business has delivered a strong financial performance in the last year despite the difficult macro economic environment.

'Our core business sales performance was excellent and the Rubicon brand has added a new dimension to our business.

'Our sales growth continues to be underpinned by substantial investment in our brands and infrastructure. In the last year we have maintained a tight control of all our costs allowing us to improve margins once again.

'We continue to face an uncertain economic outlook with the additional challenge of substantial operational changes across 2010/11. However, looking forward we remain confident in our ability to deliver against our strategy.

'Our sales growth in the coming year faces some tough comparative performance from the prior year so it is pleasing to report that sales in the first seven weeks of the new financial year are ahead of the same period last year.'

[cockneyrebel] 22/3/2010 08:12

Nice results - NICL should be good on the back of that seeing they've said they'll be significantly ahead - results Weds.

CR

[cambium] 16/3/2010 10:32

A.G.Barr p.l.c., the soft drinks group, will be announcing its financial results
for the year ended 31 January 2010 on Monday 22 March 2010

[cambium] 16/3/2010 10:30

NICL results out later this week, could they announce that they are in discussions with a certain scottish drinks co.

[skyracer] 29/1/2010 09:14

This seems overpriced. "Exceptional" costs this year and next.