REG - Nichols PLC - AGM Trading Update and Chairman Succession

NicholsAnnouncement

27/04/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220427:nRSa4212Ja&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4212J  Nichols PLC  27 April 2022

Nichols plc

(the "Company" or "Group")

AGM Trading Update and Chairman Succession

Nichols plc, the diversified soft drinks Group, provides the following trading
update for the three months to 31 March 2022 ("the period"), to coincide with
the Company's Annual General Meeting taking place later today.

Group revenue for the period continued to demonstrate strong growth,
increasing 28.9% year-on-year to £39.6m.

The Vimto brand has outperformed the wider UK soft drinks market, achieving
growth of 10.8%(1) in value terms in the year to date ("YTD"), versus
9.8%(1) value growth across the wider UK soft drinks market. The Group's
Out of Home ("OoH") route to market continues to recover from the impact of
the pandemic and has seen significant growth (+1,387%) year-on-year given the
COVID restrictions through Q1 2021.

The Group's International business had a slower start to 2022 than in the
prior year (-16%) as shipment timings were severely impacted towards the end
of the quarter by national driver industrial action in Spain due to rising
fuel prices, which caused disruption to shipping timetables. The action has
now ended and the Group's International shipments have resumed.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period were £48.3m, down from the
end of the year (31 December 2021: £56.7m) following completion of the
Group's treasury share buyback programme.

 

Outlook

As expected, the Group continues to experience significant inflationary
pressure, but has plans in place to mitigate these in line with forecasts. The
Group's Adjusted PBT(2) expectations for FY22(3) therefore remain unchanged.

 

Chairman Succession

After over 50 years with the Group and 15 years as Non-Executive Chairman,
John Nichols has informed the Board of his intention to retire from the Group
once a suitable replacement is identified and appointed. The Board's
Nomination Committee has commenced a formal process to recruit his successor
and will ensure in that process the Board retains the skills and experience
necessary to support the ongoing delivery of the Group's strategy.

An announcement will be made in due course.

 

1 Nielsen IQ Total Coverage YTD 26 March 2022

2 Excluding exceptional items

3 FY22 expectations refers to a Group compiled market consensus of adjusted
PBT £25.2m

 

 

 

Contacts

 

 Andrew Milne, Group Chief Executive Officer

 David Rattigan, Group Chief Financial Officer
 Nichols plc
 Telephone: 0192 522 2222
 Website: www.nicholsplc.co.uk (http://www.nicholsplc.co.uk)

 Alex Brennan / Hattie Dreyfus / Elfie Kent                           Steve Pearce / Rachel Hayes
 Hudson Sandler                                                       Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
 Telephone: 0207 796 4133                                             Telephone: 0207 496 3000
 Email: nichols@hudsonsandler.com (mailto:nichols@hudsonsandler.com)  Website: www.singercm.com (http://www.singercm.com)

Notes to Editors:

Nichols plc is an international diversified soft drinks business with sales in
over 73 countries, selling products in both the Still and Carbonate
categories. The Group is home to the iconic Vimto brand which is popular in
the UK and around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. Other
brands in its portfolio include SLUSH PUPPiE, Feel Good, Starslush, ICEE, Levi
Roots and Sunkist.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  AGMSEWFIMEESESL