Irn-Bru maker AG Barr said today the rainy summer weather failed to dent demand for its soft drink brands as it posted a 9.8% rise in interim profits.

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr said today the rainy summer weather failed to dent demand for its soft drink brands as it posted a 9.8% rise in interim profits.

The Cumbernauld group said it was growing sales of Irn-Bru in its core Scottish market - where the drink is said to be more popular than Coca-Cola - and increasingly across the rest of the UK, with total revenues for the brand up 5.8%.

AG Barr posted pre-tax profits of £11.1 million for the six months to July 26, up from £10.1 million a year ago.

It also said total turnover in the second half so far was ahead of last year despite August's wet weather, which meteorologists have said was the sixth-wettest August since records began.

But Cumbernauld-based AG Barr cautioned that the month's rain and heightened competition had impacted the total market.

Roger White, chief executive of AG Barr, said: "The combination of poor summer weather, volatile input costs and the generally gloomy economic outlook will make the balance of the year challenging."

Turnover in the half-year - up 5.8% to £82.4 million - was boosted by recent acquisitions of sports drink Taut and VitSmart, the vitamin water range.

Excluding the impact of the new brands, it said underlying sales revenue rose 3.6%.

Its five-year partnership deal to sell American drink Rockstar Energy - signed last last year - also lifted sales, according to AG Barr.

The group also bought the tropical fruit juice drinks firm Groupe Rubicon at the end of last month for around £59.8 million and said it was working on plans to "maintain the sales momentum".

AG Barr is also set to relaunch both the VitSmart and Taut brands in the second half, with packaging redesigns in store for both.

But its Tizer brand has continued to suffer weaker sales, said AG Barr.

The group's still fruit drinks Simply and St Clement's - with combined sales growth of 23% - now sell outsell Tizer by 50%.

Nicola Mallard, analyst at Investec Securities, said the first half figures were solid, but warned of tougher challenges to comes as rivals seek to boost demand over the colder months.

She said: "The continued lacklustre weather during the late summer months has not helped industry volumes and as a result, as we enter the autumn quarter, there are signs of competition increasing in the market.

"Whilst Barr may choose to step back from any price wars that may emerge between the major brands, this backdrop does not generally help the sector."

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