Britvic hit by squeeze on sterling

SOFT drinks giant Britvic has seen half-year profits slump 4.9% due to one-off charges and rising cost pressures on the back of the Brexit-hit pound.

The Robinsons squash firm saw pre-tax profits drop to £38.6m for the 28 weeks to April 16, from £40.6m during the same period last year.

That is despite an 11.5% rise in revenues of £756.3m for the period, though when stripped of currency effects that rise was tempered to 3.7%.

Britvic, which also bottles Pepsi in the UK, said in a statement that the post-Brexit vote collapse of the pound was weighing on the firm.

“In all our markets, we have experienced rising costs from underlying cost inflation and in GB we have faced the additional burden from the weakening of sterling leading to further cost increases for raw materials we purchase in either euro or US dollar.”