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CCR C&c Group Plc

163.40
2.20 (1.36%)
Last Updated: 14:42:32
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
C&c Group Plc LSE:CCR London Ordinary Share IE00B010DT83 ORD EUR0.01 (CDI)
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  2.20 1.36% 163.40 163.40 163.60 164.00 160.20 160.20 104,732 14:42:32
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Distilled And Blended Liquor 1.69B 51.9M 0.1324 13.52 701.46M
C&c Group Plc is listed in the Distilled And Blended Liquor sector of the London Stock Exchange with ticker CCR. The last closing price for C&c was 161.20p. Over the last year, C&c shares have traded in a share price range of 120.40p to 164.00p.

C&c currently has 391,878,000 shares in issue. The market capitalisation of C&c is £701.46 million. C&c has a price to earnings ratio (PE ratio) of 13.52.

C&c Share Discussion Threads

Showing 1051 to 1073 of 1525 messages
Chat Pages: Latest  49  48  47  46  45  44  43  42  41  40  39  38  Older
DateSubjectAuthorDiscuss
12/3/2008
09:13
rise in duties is not priced in.Lehmans say it could fall to 2.50 if cider brought into line with beer(which is highly unlikely)
finbarr
12/3/2008
08:06
I take it the rise in duties is priced in already. You never know with this pile of dung.
eoc74
01/3/2008
11:59
Magners draught plan to restore C&C's fizz in UK

Cider manufacturer C&C Group yesterday upped the ante against arch rival Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) in the UK by unveiling the long-awaited foray of its Magners brand into the draught market.

C&C, which owns the Bulmers brand in this country, plans to have Magners flowing from taps from this May and has entered into an agreement with Coors Brewers for its kegging and distribution.

The Irish group has become something of a one-trick pony since its flotation in 2004, having subsequently disposed of its Tayto crisps and soft drinks divisions.

The cider unit, which now accounts for about 90pc of earnings, was the source of three profit warnings from the group last year. Sales and profits for the division were severely impacted by bad weather in the UK and Ireland last summer and growing competition in the UK from S&N, which owns the Bulmers name in that market.

C&C now expects its revenues for its financial year that came to a close yesterday to have declined 9pc, marginally better than its previous guidance for a 10pc drop. It expects its operating margin sank 10 percentage points to 17pc.

Analysts at Citigroup said this points to full-year earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of between €114m and €118m.

Turnover in the cider division is expected to have dropped 10pc, dragged down by a 15pc decline in Magners sales volumes as Bulmers sales volumes dipped 4pc in Ireland.

S&N stole a march on C&C last summer by launching a draught version of its Bulmers Original product in the UK.

Speaking to analysts yesterday, C&C's chief executive Maurice Pratt declined to give targets for the roll-out of its draught cider in that market.

"It is much too early to get into what we expect to achieve in numbers of outlets [in the UK]," he said. "[We were] aware that consumers in certain parts of the market have been waiting for a draught version of Magners for some time."

Brendan Dwan, group finance director, acknowledged that the draught version will eat into its bottled cider sales. "There will be some cannibalisation but we believe it will be at a low level," he said.

C&C said it plans to continue its market tests for Magners in Barcelona and Munich this year. They indicated that marketing spend for the two cities will drop to €6m from €10m last year.

The group expects "modest overall revenue growth" this year and "some improvement in operating margins", driven by a cost-cutting programme that is expected to deliver annual savings of €10m.

Davy analyst John O'Reilly said that C&C still faces a number of risks. "These include the upcoming UK budget (in terms of what will happen to cider duty or indeed drinks duty overall), summer weather and the as yet unknown effect of new Great Britain marketing initiatives."

Shares in C&C ended yesterday's session unchanged at €4.50, having rallied almost 10pc so far this year.

- Joe Brennan

itansey
26/2/2008
13:13
It is not a new investor. They took their holding on 13th June 2007! Not so good on fundamentals it seems! They must be down 50% at least!
eoc74
26/2/2008
12:24
C&C Group has lined up a sales drive for its recently-launched addition to its Magners cider stable in the UK.

The Ireland-based drinks company said yesterday (25 February) that Magners Light, which was initially launched in the London on-trade late last year, will be backed by a push to up sales in and around the capital.

The low-carb cider, which has 92 calories per 330ml bottle, but retains an ABV of 4.5% - the same as original Magners, will be backed by an advertising campaign and stockist kits containing glassware and POS.

Over the next five weeks, representatives from Magners will visit outlets in the capital "to secure distribution for Magners Light and educate bar staff on the new low calorie alternative", the company said.

Richard Barnes, Magners' brand manager, said: "Magners Light embodies all the same qualities, craftsmanship and heritage offered by Magners Original Irish Cider. With the Light drinks market continuing to grow, we are convinced that Magners Light will take off in London and are providing huge above the line support to ensure it is a success."

Magners Light is offered in 330ml bottles, as opposed to the 1-pint bottles for Magners Original, in an attempt to appeal to female drinkers.

r0cksteady
26/2/2008
11:17
Combine the fund taking a holding with the share buy back, and hopefully no increase in cider duty, and we should hopefully start to see some stability in the share with a potential move north. New MD for Magners UK starting soon, and personally it cannot be soon enough.
r0cksteady
26/2/2008
11:08
Nice to see the fund Fundamental investor (owned by Capital Research & Management) buying into C&C. This is a very good vote of confidence to the company as the fund typically tends to invest in companies on their fundamentals, while taking a longer term view.
r0cksteady
25/2/2008
23:14
new shareholder 3.5% just announced.
finbarr
25/2/2008
13:42
How did these guys get 6 months beofre notification? They bought on 13th June! Theyll be sitting on a hefty loss so!
eoc74
25/2/2008
11:43
lehmans very gloomy on c&C today with a potential 1 euro drop if cider duty is brought into line with beer on budget day 12th of March
finbarr
03/2/2008
19:08
good see DB in the frame
finbarr
01/2/2008
16:42
I think when it was at 10+ euro a share it was not wise to be buying back shares. But at this price it will return excellent value to the shareholder. I would assume (and hope) they have money set aside for their plans this year.
r0cksteady
01/2/2008
16:40
True. If they have 113m to spend and theyre getting them at these prices, we could see 25m shares dissapear.
eoc74
01/2/2008
14:52
not bad for the price though!
finbarr
01/2/2008
13:28
Why not develop and grow the company? Because theyre bereft of ideas. Its incredible really.
eoc74
01/2/2008
13:00
This is an admission that the directors have no ideas. Spend surplus cash, sell of parts of the business and wait for a takeover !! Why not keep the cash to maitain dividend growth ?
gizzimodo
01/2/2008
08:59
So the waste of money continues.....Unbelieveable.
eoc74
27/1/2008
10:41
Good to see others are noticing Pratt's poor performance. Lets hope some big shareholders are as disgruuntled with Pratt as we are.

Trouble brewing for C&C's top man?

The cider company's unimpressive performance on the stock market is not reflected in its chief executive's large salary.

Take the chief executive of a leading international drinks company. He reported sales of €4.5 billion, pre-tax profits of €378 million and had 15,000 employees in the last financial year.

His company's share price has risen 50% on the back of a takeover offer from rival drinks companies Heineken and Carlsberg, leaving his company valued on the stock market at about €10 billion.

Take the chief executive of a smaller drinks company. He reported sales of €1 billion, pre-tax profits of €190 million and had 1,700 employees in his last financial year. His share price has recently plunged on the back of a disappointing performance in the company's core operations and it is valued on the stock market at about €1.3 billion.

You would think the chief executive of the larger company would earn a whopping degree more than his smaller competitor. If he was paid on the basis of his sales, you might expect him to be paid four and a half times more than his smaller competitor.

If he was paid on the basis of his profits, he might be paid twice as much, if he was paid on the basis of the number of employees he manages, he might be paid nine times as much, if he was paid on the basis of his stock market valuation, he might be paid eight times as much.

So it may come as a surprise to learn that the chief executive of Scottish and Newcastle, Britain's largest brewer, earned a basic salary last year that was only 36 per cent more than Maurice Pratt, the chief executive of Irish drinks company C&C, makers of Bulmers and Magners cider.

Former S&N boss Tony Froggatt last year earned about €1 million (stg£775,000) in basic salary compared with Pratt's €638,000. True, the disparity is greater when you factor in other remuneration. Froggatt last year earned about €2.2 million when his bonus and other benefits are taken into account, while Pratt earned about €1.4 million.

Pratt's total remuneration in the year to February 2007 was made up of his basic salary of €638,000, a bonus of €496,000, pension contributions of €226,000, other remuneration of €29,000 and benefit in kind of €17,000.

But our quibble is not with performance-related bonuses, as performance benefits all shareholders. Our question is whether €638,000 is a lot simply as a base salary, especially given the company's disastrous share price performance this year following three profit warnings. The share, which reached a brief high of €13.90 in January 2007, was at the time of writing trading at €4.72 having fallen as low as €3.67 in the last 12 months. The company has been at pains to blame bad weather for its misfortunes, but the downturn in C&C's fortunes is as much down to poor management as to poor weather.

For starters, Prattbet the ranch on his high-margin cider business, while selling off other lower margin businesses such as Tayto crisps and the soft drinks division including spring water Ballygowan. Those businesses might have had some defensive properties in years when cider sales were poor. It is the old problem of having all your eggs in one basket.

Pratt also underestimated the fickleness of the drinks market, which is heavily influenced both by fashion and by weather. But most crucially of all, he underestimated the competition, particularly Scottish &Newcastle.

Pratt got off to a strong start with sales of Magners brewing up a storm in Britain initially. However, once Scottish & Newcastle applied its mind to fighting the cheeky Irish newcomer, it gave Pratt a bloody nose.

Indeed, figures published last summer showed that sales of Scottish & Newcastle's rival cider grew much faster than sales of C&C's Magners brand in the British off-trade market, suggesting that weather was only one factor in the lower than expected sales of Magners.

Scottish & Newcastle won the cider wars in part because it was willing and able to cut the price of its premium cider brands by using its greater financial muscle to offer brewers big discounts to sell its products rather than Pratt's. The result was that Pratt was unable to replicate his juicy Irish cider margins in the tougher British market.

Many of the problems facing C&C management were entirely predictable. Indeed, the Insider outlined many of the threats facing the company as far back as September 2006. At that time we advised investors ''to take some profits'' in C&C when the share was trading at €10.15 having launched on the stock market two years previously at €2.26 a share.

In particular, we warned that the drinks market was notoriously fickle and subject to huge vagaries in fashion, that it was subject to other unpredictable influences such as the weather which had worked in C&C's favour that lovely summer, that the company was effectively a one-trick pony that was overly reliant on cider sales, and that the British players were unlikely to cede the cider market to an Irish newcomer without putting up a good fight.

Indeed, we specifically noted that Scottish & Newcastle had recently launched three new cider brands to meet the C&C competition head on, while other British players were also moving into the premium cider market.

But investors kept the faith, sending C&C shares as high as €13.90 in January last year leaving the Insider a little red-faced. However, the share then began a long decline as the problems facing Pratt's company became apparent to even Pratt's most enthusiastic followers. The share then went into freefall following three profit warnings.

The sad fact of the matter is that Pratt may be earning close to the same salary as the top brass at the big British brewers, but he proved no match for the big boys when he entered the more competitive British drinks market.

It will be no surprise if a big international brewer now casts the slide rule over C&C. After all, there are big savings to be made just by rationalising the four most expensive senior managers who cost the current shareholders a cool €3.5 million a year.

eoc74
25/1/2008
10:39
cat100,

Any ideas on near term price movement?

finbarr
25/1/2008
08:05
s&n taken over. Maybe that will lessen the comps
finbarr
24/1/2008
21:42
Well done. When everything else is red, this is blue and vice versa! Incredible!
eoc74
24/1/2008
21:22
I sold for a 10% profit yesterday
cat100
24/1/2008
11:28
Pity they are wasting money on Magners in European countries instead of speaning it on Tullamore instead. My impression of the board is that they wait for things to happen. They dont appear to be in any way innovative or forward thinking.
eoc74
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