Cocktails help AG Barr to sell despite growing cost pressures

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr said steady trading was ahead of last year due to steadily growing demand for cocktails but warned of "significant inflationary pressures" due to strong demand.

Shares in the firm, which also owns cocktail brand Funkin, surged on Tuesday after the firm showed a rise in profits during the past year.

Profit to the 30 January year-end showed a pre-tax and one-off item windfall of £41.5m, up from £32.8m the year before, and in line with the £37.4m taken to the bank in the 52 weeks to 25 January 2020.

The Scottish company said it saw costs shooting up by 25% during the year as logistics costs rose, but it saw margins improve due to rising sales volumes and investment in its business.

Barr, from Cumbernauld, is also behind brands including Rubicon and Funkin. Barr boss Roger White said revenue in the first few weeks of the new financial year had been "well ahead of the prior year and in line with our expectations".

As with most businesses, AG Barr is "facing significant inflationary pressures but we are well placed as a group to deal with these and will continue to seek to manage our exposure proactively through mitigating actions across revenue management, pricing, procurement and cost control."