Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr reports profits dip as CEO says results are ‘positive given the circumstances’

Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr saw pre-tax profits dip by 12% to £32.8 million last year as the pandemic hit trade - but its boss today said the firm’s annual results are “positive given the circumstances”.

The company, which also owns the Rubicon and Funkin Cocktails brands, reported revenues for the year ended January 24 of £227 million, down just over 11% on 2019-20. 

A.G. Barr said it has net cash in the bank of £50.7 million, up 26% on the prior year after making conservation efforts throughout the pandemic, and that it intends to resume dividend payments this year.

Chief executive Roger White said hospitality - which was shuttered for large parts of the past year due to the pandemic - usually accounts for around 10-14% of company sales, with the firm also seeing a hit to “out of home” on-the-go retail sales usually boosted by commuters.

He told the Standard: “It’s difficult when your profits are behind where they were the prior year to be positive, but I think it is a positive outcome given the circumstances we’ve been through. We feel like it’s a resilient performance.

“Despite the continued uncertainty, we still have a program of innovation for the coming year… with quite a busy year from a marketing point of view, and from an innovation point of view.” 

White highlighted the “strong growth” of the firm’s pre-made cocktail and mixer brand, Funkin Cocktails, in the period as Britons drank at home through lockdown. The range is to see new products launch in the coming months. 

He said: “Drinking cocktails at home in a time in which hospitality has been closed has really just accelerated, and we have been able to benefit from that.”   

It comes after the firm revealed its Irn-Bru heritage edition, glass bottles of the drink made according to the original higher sugar content 1901 recipe, is here to stay. White said: “We sold around 5 million bottles relatively quickly, and there’s been a huge clamour from Irn-Bru fans to bring it back.” 

The recipe had been stored in the firm’s archives for more than a century. 

William Ryder, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “AG Barr has had a difficult year, but we doubt much of the damage will be lasting. 

“Like other drinks makers, AG Barr has had to grapple with the sudden collapse of away-from-home sales and a dramatic boost to take-home sales. This has manifested, in part, as a home cocktail boom, which helped boost the Funkin brand to a number one position among ready to drink cocktails in the UK.

“AG Barr looks well positioned to recover as the UK reopens, especially as some of the underlying brands have shown their resilience over the last year.”

Shares were down 2.5% on Tuesday morning.