THE chief executive of Irn-Bru manufacturer AG Barr has expressed his "delight" that the soft drink helped Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey as she fought off the deadly Ebola virus, and revealed his surprise at the weekend newspaper headlines.

 

Roger White was speaking yesterday after AG Barr told the stock market it had achieved year-on-year sales growth of more than five per cent in the final quarter of its financial year to January 25 in a broadly flat UK soft-drinks market.

This contrasted with a dip in sales reported on Tuesday by rival Britvic, with which AG Barr in late 2012 agreed a merger that ultimately did not come to pass.

Asked about Ms Cafferkey's crediting of Irn-Bru as a factor in her recovery, Mr White said: "We are delighted to see that we were able to get her through and very pleased to see her hopefully make a full and speedy recovery."

Revealing his surprise when he saw the front-page headlines generated by Ms Cafferkey's comments about Irn-Bru having played a part in her recovery, Mr White said: "I guess everybody enjoys our product for different reasons. I was a little surprised when I looked at the newsstand on Sunday morning. It was front page on most of the press."

He added: "We are delighted that the product is able to help in whatever way to make people get through things or feel better."

Asked if he had spoken to Ms Cafferkey, who caught the virus while treating Ebola sufferers with Save The Children in Sierra Leone and was released from London's Royal Free Hospital last weekend, Mr White replied: "I suspect there will be some Irn-Bru winging its way towards her. I haven't spoken to her. I have been pretty busy this week. I suspect she is a busy lady."

AG Barr said that its revenue for the year to January 25, 2015 was expected to be around £259 million, up by about two per cent on the prior 12 months.

It declared that its sponsorship of last summer's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow had helped to support its core brands, which include Irn-Bru, Rubicon, the Barr range of carbonated soft drinks and Strathmore mineral water, over the full financial year.

AG Barr signalled confidence that its expectations for the year to January 25, 2015 would have been met.

The City is forecasting AG Barr will have made underlying pre-tax profits of about £41.5 million to £41.8m in the 12 months to January 25. This would represent a significant increase from £38.1m in the year to January 26, 2014.

On Tuesday, Britvic said that its revenues in Great Britain were down by 1.4 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to December 21 in a "notably more competitive promotional environment".

Asked about the Britvic figures, Mr White replied: "It is a competitive market out there and you have got to navigate your way round it. I think we have had a strong final quarter, and others have had less strong quarters."

While noting AG Barr and Britvic were reporting sales for different time periods, and that the figures were not therefore directly comparable, Mr White added: "We are up, and they are down."

Asked about which of AG Barr's brands had done particularly well, Mr White replied: "The trend over the year was a much more balanced trend across our portfolio, with no particular brand standing out as driving the performance."

Shares in AG Barr rose 4.5p to 634.5p yesterday, following the trading statement.

AG Barr said it was "cautiously optimistic" about the new financial year and expected to see further growth across the company, in spite of the "challenging operating environment and market conditions".

Mr White said: "It would be complacent to say you think everything is a smooth millpond. It is likely to be a challenging year for all."