Britvic and AG Barr drinks fly off the shelves July 25, 2013 SOFT drink makers AG Barr and Britvic reported sparkling sales yesterday thanks to their marketing campaigns and hotter weather boosting demand. Britvic, which this month walked away from merger talks with its smaller Scottish rival AG Barr despite an improved offer, said third quarter revenues rose four per cent to £316.3m. Simon Litherland, who took [...]
The week in brief February 16, 2014 Samsung launches brand marketing platform The electronics company has launched a brand marketing platform, “Launching People”, that will create a TV series where stars (including Idris Elba, Paloma Faith, Gizzi Erskine, and Rankin), will mentor undiscovered talent. Samsung hopes it will help the brand become the “most loved” in Britain. Mini seeks new creative agency [...]
The week in brief March 30, 2014 Soft drink adverts a success Britvic’s annual Soft Drinks Review found that “heavyweight marketing campaigns” helped low-sugar soft drinks like Coke Zero and Pepsi Max to post a rise in the value of sales last year. While the rest of the diet soft drink segment saw a marginal decline, high-budget advertising was found to have [...]
Analyst Views | How are AG Barr and Britvic faring now that merger talks are off? July 25, 2013 NICOLA MALLARD INVESTECAs far as AG Barr is concerned we think it is a very sound company. They have plenty of scope to grow given their market share… For Britvic they are by and large already a national player. They look less attractive from a revenue perspective but they are working through the new strategy, [...]
Carphone and Dixons dial up £3.8bn merger May 15, 2014 DIXONS Retail and Carphone Warehouse shares slid into the red yesterday after the high street giants’ plans for a £3.8bn merger was given a mixed reception. The new group, which will be named Dixons Carphone, aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of smartphones in people’s lives and the so-called internet of things – where household [...]
Irn-Bru owner AG Barr upbeat as sales surge January 23, 2014 SCOTTISH drinks giant AG Barr said thirst for its soft drinks continued unabated in the final quarter of the year and it expects to post a 6.1 per cent jump in full-year sales. The owner of Irn-Bru and Tizer said trading in the last three months is expected to be ahead of the overall drinks [...]
Pedal to the metal May 11, 2014 Annabel Palmer meets POD Point founder Erik Fairbairn, who’s helping drive the electric car revolution IT’S RARE to find an entrepreneur who, just midway through growing a business, is entirely candid about their exit plan. But Erik Fairbairn – founder of POD Point – plans to create 10 companies “this lifetime”. At 37, and already [...]
Best of the Brokers for 13 December 2013 December 12, 2013 GENEL ENERGY Canaccord Genuity analysts have raised their rating on the oil exploration company from “hold” to “buy” with a price target of 1,240p after the analysts said diplomacy between exporting countries in the Kurdistan region of Iraq had given renewed impetus to pipeline oil exports. BRITVIC Broker Numis has a “hold” rating on the [...]
London Report: Growth figures set to show UK’s strong recovery January 26, 2014 GROWTH figures for the fourth quarter are expected to give further proof of Britain’s booming recovery. Economists predict expansion of 0.8 per cent in the final three months – giving the UK its strongest yearly growth since 2007. Jonathan Loynes, of Capital economics, said: “We think that the preliminary estimate of GDP in the fourth [...]
Poundland hires retail veterans to propel float February 18, 2014 DISCOUNT retailer Poundland yesterday unveiled a heavyweight board lineup and its first female non-executive director as part of plans to float on London’s stock market next month. The Birmingham-based company, which currently has around 500 stores, has recruited former Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn and Merlin Entertainments group HR director Tea Colaianni, who will become [...]