Key acquisition and Vimto put fizz into Nichols performance

Merseyside-based soft drinks maker Nichols – the company behind the iconic Vimto brand – has made another key acquisition as half-year revenue and profits continue to climb.

The company, which reported pre-tax profit of £12.7m to June 30 – up nearly 7% on last year – and revenue of £63.5m, up 12.4% – has swooped for DJ Drink Solutions.

DJ is now the largest of Haydock-headquartered Nichols’ out of home dispensed soft drinks distributors covering the North West and North East regions.

Chairman John Nichols said: “”Nichols has delivered another strong performance in the first half of the year.

“Our sales momentum, which continues to outperform the UK market coupled with successful management of input costs has delivered solid profit growth.”

“Whilst we anticipate that market conditions will remain challenging during the second half of the year, we have a clear strategy and, underpinned by the strength of our brands and our diversified business model, we are confident of delivering full year results in line with expectations.”

In the UK, revenue totalled £47.5m (H1 2016: £44.5m) an increase of 6.7% compared to the prior year.

The performance compares favourably to the total soft drinks market which showed total growth of 2.9% in the same period (Nielsen year to date to 17 June 2017).

The Vimto brand has continued to outperform the market with sales up 10% versus the same period in 2016.

International revenues increased by 33.5% in the period to £16.0m (H1 2016: £12.0m), which is 24.7% on a constant currency basis.