Revenues at the Irish division of British soft drinks producer Britvic fell in the first half of its financial year. While the introduction of the Government's tax on sugar-sweetened drinks - introduced last year - played a minor role, a fall in the sale of third-party alcohol brands to pubs, via the Counterpoint wholesale division, was the chief reason for Britvic's Irish growth hitting the brakes. Group chief executive Simon Litherland said the UK soft drinks sugar tax has benefited the business, with more consumers migrating to its low sugar brands. He also said the group has put in place contingency plans to deal with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit outcome. Britvic has incurred higher additional warehousing costs as a result, but Mr Litherland said the business is "well-placed" to deal with ongoing Brexit uncertainties.

Source: Irish Examiner May 22, 2019 17:49 UTC