AG Barr, which is known for making Scottish fizzy drink Irn-Bru, has posted a near 63% slump in half-year profits as this year's coronavirus restrictions weakened sales in pubs and other outlets.
"While UK-wide lockdown measures have been gradually lifted, there remains a continued high degree of uncertainty associated with further potential COVID-19 outbreaks, such as significant localised lockdowns, and the resulting impacts," AG Barr said.
The company said that sales of Irn Bru itself grew marginally, while reporting an overall 8% slide in revenues to £113.2 million for the period.
Even assuming that the UK does not enter a further significant period of lockdown, the Rockstar and Rubicon maker said that it expects full year revenue for the year ending January 2021 to be in the region of 12%-15% below last year.
It had said in July that it expected revenue to fall by up to 15% this year.
Dividend Position And Profit Before Tax
The Cumbernauld-headquartered company added that its dividend position remains under review, but that it expects to resume payments next year.
The soft drinks maker said that profit before tax fell to £5.1 million for the six months that ended on July 31, 2020, compared with £13.5 million a year earlier.
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