Vimto maker feels good with acquisition and strong first half
SOFT drinks group Nichols, the maker of Vimto, has hailed a strong first half performance which saw it make another acquisition and pre-tax profits rise 9%.
The Merseyside-based business has acquired the Feel Good brand, a range of premium juice drinks containing no added sugar and 100% natural ingredients. The brand is sold in the UK through the retail and on-trade channels, and is also exported to mainland Europe.
“The acquisition is a key part of our growth strategy and we plan to further develop the Feel Good brand across our established UK and international markets supported by increased marketing resource and investment,” Nichols said.
In April, Nichols also acquired a 49% stake in the UK’s top supplier of ice drinks to the UK holiday and leisure industry.
It bought into The Noisy Drinks Co which distributes slush drinks under the Starslush brand and had an annual turnover of £6.6m in its last financial year.
Updating the markets on its performance for the six months to June, Nichols saw total group sales of £54.7m, in line with the same period in 2014, while pre-tax profits increased to £10.9m.
The company said UK sales have outperformed the market with a 2% increase in revenue in the first half of 2015 while the UK market declined.
It said this performance has been driven by the Vimto brand with sales increasing by 3.4% in the period compared to 2014.
John Nichols, non-executive chairman, said: “The board are pleased with the group’s performance in the first half of 2015, with UK sales growth outperforming the market and group profit increasing by 9%.
“We look forward to the incremental contribution from both the Feel Good brand and the acquisition of The Noisy Drinks Company Limited announced at our AGM earlier in the year.”
The group also announced that John Gittins has been appointed to the board as independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee.
Mr Gittins is currently finance director at AIM-listed Fairpoint Group and has more than 20 years experience as PLC executive and non-executive director.
He will be replacing Eric Healey who stepped down from the board in March.
