Nichols profits fizz in ‘excellent’ year

VIMTO-maker Nichols has hailed an ‘excellent performance’ over the past year which has resulted in increased sales and profits.

The company which is based at Newton Le Willows, near Warrington, has seen its group turnover increase by 29% to £72.4 million compare to £56.2m last time.

Its profit before tax was £12.2m compared with £10m in 2008 – representing an increase of 22%.

Earnings per share have also increased by 17% to 23.44p and it ended the year with cash reserves of £11.2m up from £6m in 2008.

The firm, which also makes Sunkist and Panda drinks, bought the dispense drink business of Yorkshire firm Ben Shaws in January, which required it to invest £300,000 in its distribution division.

The company’s preliminary results state that this has now positioned it as the number three player in the UK soft drinks dispense market – behind Coca Cola and Britvic (Pepsi).

This will also provide it with a platform to “maintain the strong growth of the last two years”.

Revenue from its core Vimto brand grew by 28% in the UK and by 33% overseas.

Non-executive chairman John Nichols said: “2009 was an exceptional year for us.

“Not only did we produce outstanding financial results across all of our operations, we also continued to out-perform our competitors and increased market share”.

“We delivered an outstanding performance… whilst at the same time increasing our marketing investment behind our core brands and maintaining momentum in a very challenging consumer market.

“Although the general economic outlook remains uncertain and the consumer market is still highly competitive, we are confident that our business will deliver further growth in 2010 and beyond.”

Nichols’ international sales increased by 33% to £12m with its sales in the Middle East increasing 40% year on year.

It also increased its sales in Africa by 11% after investing more in marketing
and launched Vimto into South Africa.

The company said that it also sees potential for further growth in the energy drink market which it entered in December 2008 after buying a 50% stake in Dayla.