IRN-Bru maker AG Barr has reported a hike in profits to nearly £45 million as it announced Robin Barr was stepping down from the board after nearly 60 years.

Barr lifted pre-tax profits by 5.2 per cent to £44.4m for the year ended January 29, on turnover up 18.2% at £317.6m, against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis and steep rises in overheads.

Chief executive Roger White hailed the results as an “excellent financial performance” over a period that saw the company complete the acquisition of Boost Drinks and the remaining equity in MOMA Foods, a porridge and oat-milk business.

But he warned that cost pressures persist and flagged a “short-term impact on operating margins” as the company moves into an “investment phase”, which will involve a further increase in capital expenditure on areas such as marketing, capacity, sustainability, people, and technology.

Shares fell by 6% to close at 509p.

Barr, which declared it is confident of delivering further growth in revenue and profit this year, published its results as it said that Robin Barr would not stand for re-election at the company’s annual general meeting in May.

Mr Barr, the great-grandson of company founder Robert Barr, has served on the board for 58 years, and was executive chairman from 1978 to 2009.

Barr said that, as part of succession planning, Julie Barr will relinquish her duties as company secretary and will join the board as a non-executive director, subject to shareholder approval. Ms Barr, a qualified corporate lawyer and daughter of Robin Barr who has been with the company for 19 years, will stand for election at the AGM.

Mr White said the length of time Mr Barr has worked for the company and in the industry means that his departure would be a “loss for us”.

He told The Herald: “I have worked with him for over 20 years now, and apart from the fact he is a real gentleman, he has a wealth of experience and capability.

“But he has served his time. We have managed to convince him to stay for a number of years now and it is probably just the right time for him to step down. He will still be involved in a number of areas. I’m sure we will see him around. His experience will not be lost.”

Mr White meanwhile signalled that the company was proceeding on the basis that the controversial deposit return scheme will go live as planned on August 16. New First Minister Humza Yousaf was quoted during the SNP leadership campaign as saying he would exclude small businesses for the first year of operation.

Mr White, who was one of several major soft drinks leaders to call for the scheme to go ahead at the weekend, said any modifications to the DRS now would require the law to be changed. He noted that Barr had spent much of the last 18 months preparing for the scheme and that the company had to ensure it meets its legal obligations under the law.

Mr White said: “We just don’t believe that the politicians, having passed the law, because the sitting SNP Government were the ones who passed the law, should change it at the last minute.”

He added that should the new First Minister “decide he wants to change the law, I assume he will have to go back to the Scottish Parliament to get it changed.

“At the minute we are continuing to plan for implementation on the 16th of August which is what the law tells us.”

Asked if the company had seen any easing of cost pressure, Mr White said that while Barr had been protected to some degree last year by hedging contracts for energy and commodities, it was starting to feel the impact of cost inflation as those contracts have come to an end.

“And as those have rolled off we have had to participate in markets to re-hedge at a higher level, so we are still seeing as we go into this year a high level of inflation,” he said.

“Even today (Tuesday) it was getting reported that food inflation is stubbornly high, and we fully recognise that.”

Asked how the cost-of-living crisis had affected sales, Mr White said “I don’t think we have seen wholesale changes in consumer behaviour in our categories”.

However, he noted that there have been changes in terms of where people are shopping. He also observed that, based on sales of its Funkin fruit puree brand, there has been evidence of less cocktail consumption of cocktails in the hospitality trade, notably in London and at Christmas because of rail strikes, and more in the take-home market.

But he declared that “we are happy that the certain doom and gloom that was being suggested in the final quarter of the last calendar year hasn’t come to pass and that consumer behaviour hasn’t substantively changed”.

The board of AG Barr said yesterday that it is recommending a final dividend of 10.6p per share. That would take the total dividend for the full year to 13.1p per share.