Nichols: Interim Results and Acquisition

RNS Number : 8297T

Nichols PLC

23 July 2015

 

Nichols plc

INTERIM RESULTS, ACQUISITION AND BOARD CHANGE

Nichols plc ('Nichols', the 'Group'), the soft drinks Group, announces its Interim results for the period ended 30 June 2015 (the 'period').

Nichols plc is a highly focused soft drinks business.  Its brand portfolio includes Vimto, which is sold in over 65 countries and Levi Roots, Sunkist and Panda which are sold in the UK.  The Group has a leading market position in both the "Still" and "Carbonate" drinks categories.

Highlights:

John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman, said:

"The Board are pleased with the Group's performance in the first half of 2015, with UK sales growth outperforming the market and Group profit increasing by 9%. We look forward to the incremental contribution from both the Feel Good brand and the acquisition of The Noisy Drinks Company Limited announced at our AGM earlier in the year."

Chairman's Statement

The Group has delivered another solid performance in the first six months of 2015. UK sales growth of 2.0% has outperformed the market, Group profit has increased by 9% and earnings per share is up by 11.4%.

Trading

Total Group sales were £54.7m, in line with the same period in 2014 (2014 restated: £54.7m). Profit Before Tax has increased by 9% to £10.9m (2014: £10.0m) delivering a 200 basis points improvement to the PBT margin as we continue to deliver our value over volume strategy.

UK sales have outperformed the market with a 2% increase in revenue in the first half of 2015 whilst the UK market has declined by 0.1% (source: Nielsen 6 months to 20 June 2015). Significantly, this performance has been driven by the Vimto brand with sales increasing by 3.4% in the period compared to 2014. Within the Vimto brand performance, the Still category has delivered strong growth of 8% whilst sales in Carbonate have declined by 3% reflecting the market trend in this heavily promoted category. On a like for like basis, excluding the discontinued Weight Watchers and Extreme brands, our UK sales increased by 2.8% in the period.

Export sales at the half year point are 5.8% behind the same period in 2014. This is due to delayed shipments to the Yemen as a consequence of the recent conflict in the country. Elsewhere, sales to Aujan Coca-Cola, our main partner in the Middle East, are ahead of the prior year. Sales to Africa are comparable at the half year (4% ahead on a constant currency basis).          

Dividend

Reflecting the Group's performance and the Board's continued confidence in the outlook, I am pleased to declare an interim dividend of 8.0 pence per share, an increase of 12.7% over the prior year (2014: 7.1 pence).

The interim dividend will be paid on 28 August 2015 to shareholders registered on 31 July 2015; the ex-dividend date is 30 July 2015. 

Acquisition

We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the Feel Good brand. Feel Good is an established range of premium juice drinks containing no added sugar and 100% natural ingredients. The brand is sold in the UK through the retail and on-trade channels, in addition there are export sales to mainland Europe.

The acquisition is a key part of our growth strategy and we plan to further develop the Feel Good brand across our established UK and international markets supported by increased marketing resource and investment.    

Board Change

We welcome Mr John Gittins (aged 55) who has been appointed to the Board as Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. John is currently Finance Director at AIM listed Fairpoint Group plc and has over 20 years experience as PLC Executive and Non-Executive Director.

He will be replacing Mr Eric Healey who stepped down from the Board in March of this year.

Outlook

We are satisfied with the Group's results in the first half of 2015, in particular the continued strong performance from the Vimto brand in a challenging UK market.

Nichols plc is well positioned to continue its growth trend. The balance sheet remains strong and we look forward to the incremental contribution from both the Feel Good brand and the partial acquisition of The Noisy Drinks Company Limited announced at our AGM earlier in the year.  

In summary, the Board is confident that full year performance will be in line with market expectations.

John Nichols

Non-Executive Chairman

23 July 2015 

       CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

 

           CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

 

NOTES          

1.   Basis of Preparation

The financial information set out in this Interim Report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.  The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014, prepared under IFRS, have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.  The auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain a statement under Section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

            The interim financial information has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement principles of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and on the same basis and using the same accounting policies as used in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014. The Interim Report has not been audited or reviewed in accordance with the International Standard on Review Engagement 2410 issued by the Auditing Practices Board.

2.   Dividends

The interim dividend of 8.0p (2014: 7.1p) will be paid on 28 August 2015 to shareholders registered on 31 July 2015.  The ex dividend date is 30 July 2015.

3.   Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share are based on the weighted average number of shares in issue in the six months to 30 June 2015 of 36,849,257 (six months to 30 June 2014 of 36,843,875 and 12 months to 31 December 2014 of 36,846,564).

Interim Report

The interim report will be posted to shareholders and be available on the Company's website (www.nicholsplc.co.uk) on or around 29 July 2015.

Cautionary Statement

This Interim Report has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed.  The Interim Report should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange