Vimto owner posts revenue growth

Nichols’ revenue grew to £117.3M, up from £109.3M in 2015. The firm said the growth had come from both UK and international business activities.

Sales in the UK rose 6.9% from £84.8M in 2015 to £90.7M, driven by sales of the Vimto brand, according to Nichols, which grew 5% last year.

The acquisition of The Noisy Drinks Company had also helped boost revenues for Nichols. Performance was significantly ahead of the UK soft drinks market, claimed the firm.

International sales grew by 8.8% to £26.6M, an increase of £2.2M versus 2015.

Ahead of last year​

Nichols said it was pleased with the 2016 group sales performance. It expected its full-year profits and earnings per share to be ahead of last year and in line with expectations.

The latest results were an improvement for the Manchester-based drinks firm, after it posted a fall in UK sales of 0.3% in the year ending December 31 2015.

Analyst N+1 Singer said the results were a very pleasing outcome, despite a tough trading environment.

“The business continues to comfortably outperform a difficult UK soft drinks market, led by Vimto and the strategic strengthening of the out-of-homes category following the Noisy acquisition,” said Singer. ​

‘Continuing to show good momentum’​

“This differentiation theme is further reinforced by the international business continuing to show good momentum, especially Africa.”​

Nichols sells its drinks in more than 85 countries in both still and carbonated categories. Its range of owned and licensed brands include: Vimto, Sunkist, Feel Good and Levi Roots.

The company will release its preliminary results on March 2 this year.

Meanwhile, in other financial news, Morrisons’ chief executive David Potts praised the retailer’s “food makers and shopkeepers”, ​after it reported its strongest sales performance for seven years​ in a Christmas trading update.