Key Points
● Profit on ordinary activities, before tax and exceptional items, increased by 9.6% to £38.1m (2013: £34.8m - restated for IAS19)
● Total turnover increased by 6.9% to £254.1m (2013: £237.6m)
● Underlying earnings per share increased by 10.1% to 27.02p (2013: 24.55p - restated for IAS19)
● Core brands, IRN-BRU, Barr, Rubicon and Rockstar, grew and outperformed the market in the period with particularly strong growth coming from the carbonates segment.
● Robust financial position
○ ROCE increased to over 22%
○ substantial underlying free cash flow of £37.7m
○ net debt at the period end of £2.1m (2013: £25.6m)
● New production and warehouse facility at Magna Park, Milton Keynes Phase I fully operational
● Proposed final dividend of 8.19p per share (2013: 7.4p) to give a proposed total dividend for the year of 11.02p per share, an increase of 10.0% over the prior year
