AG Barr shares jump on £51m Fentimans, Frobishers deals

(Sharecast News) - Shares in AG Barr jumped on Tuesday after the Irn-Bru maker said it had bought soft drinks maker Fentimans and premium juice brand Frobishers for a combined £51m as it looked to cash in on the fall in alcohol consumption by consumers. The Irn-Bru owner bought Fentimans for £38m and Frobishers for £13m. "Both brands operate in the attractive adult soft drinks market, which is benefitting from the consumer trend of reduced alcohol consumption," the company said on Tuesday.

"These acquisitions reflect the execution of further meaningful and targeted M&A to elevate growth through broadening the brand portfolio while providing opportunities for cost synergies."

Integration of both brands was expected to take place during the current fiscal year, with associated efficiencies beginning to come through from the second half. Shares in the company jumped 6% in London trade.

AG Barr added that full-year results were expected to be in line with expectations as revenue jumped 4% to £437m for the 12 months to January 31, with double-digit profit growth and an adjusted operating margin of 14.7%, up from 13.6% a year earlier.

Analysts at Shorecap nudged up their operating profit forecast by around 1% to £64.2m, "which feeds into an adjusted pre-tax profit forecast of £65.6m, year-on-year growth at an attractive 12.2%".

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com