By Karen Peattie
SCOTTISH soft drinks firm AG Barr reiterated that it retains the exclusive distribution rights for Rockstar in the UK, Ireland and some European countries after PepsiCo’s announcement that it intends to the owner of the energy brand.
The Cumbernauld-based company responded that Barr has a long-term contract for the manufacture and sale of the popular flavoured energy drink, which contributes approximately eight per cent of the group’s sales volumes.
It stated: “AG Barr, which produces and markets some of the UK's leading drinks brands, notes the announcement earlier today by PepsiCo Inc that it intends to acquire Rockstar Energy Beverages, owner of the Rockstar energy brand. PepsiCo has been a distribution partner for Rockstar in North America since 2009.
“AG Barr has been a franchise partner of Rockstar since 2007 and retains the exclusive distribution rights for the Rockstar brand in the UK, Ireland and certain European territories. AG Barr has a long-term contract, extending for several years, for the manufacture and sale of the Rockstar energy brand, which contributes approximately 8% of the group’s sales volumes.”
In January, the Irn-Bru maker said it expected a smaller-than-feared hit to annual profits after a tough 2019. Last July, the firm warned of a profits slump of up to 20% as the UK’s sugar tax, CO2 shortages and unhelpful weather took its toll.
But in its most recent update, it said its flagship Irn-Bru brand had returned to growth in the final three months of 2019 and confirmed that turnaround plans were under way for both Rockstar and Rubicon.
It expects underlying pre-tax profits to be “just ahead” of £27 million for the year to January 25 although it predicts that sales will fall to about £255m against £279m the previous year.
Roger White, chief executive, said the group’s focus “remains the delivery of long-term value growth”.
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