BRITVIC Ireland reported first-half operating profit of £4.3 million (€5.3m) yesterday.
The company, which acquired the soft drinks and related businesses of C&C in March last year for €249m, said its Irish division performed well in its first full period, contributing revenues of £99.5m (€124m).
The positive results come after Britvic Ireland delivered a blow in January this year when it announced plans to close its plant in Cork with the loss of 60 jobs. The company transferred production from its manufacturing plant in the Courtstown Industrial Estate in Little Island to its plant in Dublin, with a €7.6m investment.
Ten jobs have already gone at the Cork base and the remaining 50 will be phased out over the rest of the year.
Britvic maintained its regional distribution centre in Cork, its sales and merchandising operation and the Ballygowan water bottling facility in Newcastle West, which combined employ about 200 people.
Meanwhile on a group level Britvic Plc, the British bottler for PepsiCo soft drinks, said revenue growth accelerated in the past five weeks as warmer May weather fuelled beverage sales.
The maker of J2O and Robinsons fruit drinks is "confident" of meeting its forecasts for the year, chief executive Paul Moody said yesterday.
First-half profit declined 29%, hurt by the cost of closing the Irish factory, the company said.
Britvic, whose sales benefit from warmer weather, is looking to still beverages for growth as a ban on smoking in pubs and concern about obesity hit sales of carbonated soft drinks.
"The first half of our year has been a period of modest growth for the soft drinks market overall, with improving growth trends evident in the early weeks of the second half," Mr Moody said. "We are well positioned to drive group earnings growth."
First-half sales gained 29% to £454.7m (€567.4m), boosted by the acquisition of C&C Group’s Irish soft drink unit last year, Britvic said.
Ballygowan mineral water was among brands acquired with the C&C purchase.
