With potentially still up to a year to go before his tenure as chief executive of AG Barr comes to an end, Roger White is presumably not quite at the ‘demob happy’ stage of his exit from the Scottish soft drinks giant.
But he is perhaps beginning to feel content that the Irn-Bru maker will be in good shape when the time eventually comes for him to leave his office at the Cumbernauld manufacturer for the last time.
Mr White, whose retirement from the role was announced by Barr in August, presented a strong set of financial results for the first half to the City this morning, despite the wet summer weather – always guaranteed to dampen sales of soft drinks.
READ MORE: AG Barr acquires energy drink Boost in deal worth up to £32m
The results keep the company on track to post a rise in annual profits for a third year in a row.
Speaking to The Herald, Mr White underlined the importance of the company’s decision to not pass on the full impact of cost inflation to its customers, which was designed to keep the price of its products as keen for consumers as possible.
He said: “We made a conscious choice to under-recover inflation in the knowledge that it was going to be a tough time for consumers, and we wanted to make our products as affordable in the circumstances as possible. Ultimately, it has impacted our margins, but our business has grown.”
READ MORE: AG Barr completes full acquisition of porridge firm MOMA Foods
But the first-half performance of Barr was not down to price alone. Its decision to acquire energy drinks business Boost Drinks in a deal worth up to £32 million last December is paying off, as its purchase of MOMA Foods, which makes oak milk. It is also continuing to leverage growth from Funkin, the cocktail mixer and ready to drink business.
Mr White said the strength of current trading means Barr is generating cash which can be used to invest in new products (it has already introduced new energy drink and cocktail products in the second half), return capital to shareholders and consider further acquisitions.
Today’s results are not quite the swansong for the veteran chief executive, but he will be doubtless feel in good voice as begins to contemplate life beyond Irn-Bru.
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