Magners continues to have a tough time in the on-trade in Great Britain — recording a 14% volume drop against flat sector growth.
However, the drop does represent stabilisation of volumes for C&C Group, which suffered a 29% drop in on-trade volumes last year.
"The brand continues to underperform in the on-trade but the launch of Magners Pear and growth in draught volumes contributed to a significant improvement in performance relative to the decline of 29% the previous year," said chief executive John Dunsmore.
Overall cider volumes in Great Britain, excluding the Gaymers business it acquired, dropped 4.9% compared to a 17% decline last year. The total cider market increased 7% in the period, according to Nielsen.
Including the acquisition of Gaymers, total GB cider volumes for the company were up 11.7%. Revenue in GB declined 9.1% to €149m while operating profit increased 48% to €19.7m. Operating margin increased 5.1 percentage points to 13.2%.
"Since the year end, the Group has launched a new marketing and advertising campaign for Magners Original in GB and introduced Magners Golden Draught in the Scottish market. Following the announcement of an increase in cider duty by the UK Government on 24 March, C&C informed its customers that the Group would absorb the cost of the increase in cider duty on the Magners brand for a period of time," said Dunsmore.
"These initiatives are intended to invigorate and continue the recovery of the Magners brand in GB."
Overall cider volumes across the company increased 5.9% with acquisitions. Revenue increased 16.4% to €568.8m. Operating profit before exceptionals increased 20.9% to €89.5m.