Britvic shares fall on Mathew Dunn resignation
Shares in Ballygowan water owner Britvic dipped after the company’s chief financial officer announced his resignation.
The British soft drinks group’s shares fell by more than 2% after announcing that Mathew Dunn will be leaving in April to join online fashion store Asos.
Britvic said it will now commence a search for his successor.
Asos is striving to take full advantage of an acceleration in internet shopping, with chief executive Nick Beighton promising last month that the company had the potential to be much bigger than a £4bn (€4.5bn) business in terms of annual revenue. Group revenues climbed 26% to £2.42bn (€2.74bn) in the year to the end of August.
Mr Dunn has held the top finance job at Britvic since 2015. The company’s shares have gained around 10% since he took over as chief financial officer in November of that year.
Britvic reported problems with supply disruptions in the UK over the summer and is still dealing with uncertainties for its business around the country’s new sugar tax.
More than 90% of Britvic’s Irish products are unaffected by the sugar tax here, due to low sugar content.
In its most recent trading update, in late July — which covered the company’s third quarter — Britvic reported year-on-year revenue growth of 11.3% for its Irish operations.
It said its stills portfolio, including Ballygowan, had benefited from the warm summer weather.
The group’s Irish sales for the six months to the end of April increased over 15%, year-on-year to €99m.
Additional reporting Reuters
