(Reuters) -Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr on Tuesday posted a rise in its first-half profit, helped by strong demand for its cocktail mixes, soft drinks and price hikes of its products.
Beverage makers have raised prices to keep up with high costs of energy and raw materials, while a cost-of-living crisis has not limited customers from spending on cocktail mixers.
Despite the wet summer months of July and August, the Cumbernauld-headquartered group maintained its annual profit expectations of marginally above the top end of analysts’ forecast.
Analysts on average expect A.G. Barr to report an annual profit of 47.12 million pounds ($57.40 million), according to a company-compiled consensus.
The beverage maker said its adjusted profit before tax rose to 27 million pounds for the six-month period ended July 30, from 25.3 million pounds a year ago.
($1 = 0.8210 pounds)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Eileen Soreng)
