Scottish beer brand Tennent’s grew revenue and market share as parent company C&C unveiled plans for an expansion of its product range.
Chief executive Roger White, who joined the Dublin-based group from AG Barr last year, said that as part of the company’s innovation strategy, it would be launching a limited edition Tennent’s Bavarian Pilsner, brewed at Wellpark to a Bavarian recipe.
It has been inspired by the 1880s journey made by Hugh Tennent who travelled to Bavaria and brought back brewing techniques that would shape the future of Scottish lager.
Tennent’s and Bulmers cider achieved net revenue growth of 1.4% and 6.6%, respectively, said C&C which reported a 4% rise in operating profit to €41.9m for the first half despite a challenging UK on-trade environment.
Mr White has focused on developing each distinct business unit rather than treat the group as a single operation which had been the previous strategy.
“That approach has not really worked,” he told Daily Business. “We have multiple business models. We are a brand owner and a wholesaler and while they are compatible you cannot have a single set of sales people and process people.”
On the forthcoming Budget, he said: “We are all holding our breath hoping there is no further had news for the hospitality sector in cost and red tape. We just wat to see the economy growing,.”
In its statement, the group said current trading was in line and full-year earnings expectations were being maintained.
It has raised its interim dividend by 4% to 2.08c per share. An operating margin of 0.4% reflects adjusted EBITDA up 0.2% to €58.1m. Net revenue fell 4% mainly as a result of transferring Budweiser Brewing Group volume in the Republic of Ireland.
A €150m capital return programme is on track with a €15m share buyback tranche completed in September.
In a statement with the results, Mr White said: “We have delivered a solid first-half performance against a challenging market backdrop.
“We continue to invest in initiatives to support improved business performance – building brands, delivering service, range and value to customers and consumers. In addition, we have made good initial progress in our programme to simplify and improve our core business processes.
“We believe we are well prepared for the all-important festive trading period, and whilst we expect challenging economic conditions to persist, we remain committed to the delivery of our full-year earnings targets”.
Market reaction
In a broker note, anlaysts at Barclays said: “What stood out to us in the 1H release was the new CEO’s self-reflective tone, with a renewed focus on integrating acquisitions, simplifying operations, and leveraging scale.
“We also appreciate management’s plan to establish more distinct business units under a unified group structure, as this should enable strong regional focus while driving efficiencies, leading to both cost and revenue synergies from a scaled-up core group.
“Additionally, we welcomed the clarity on segment priorities: ‘growth’ for the branded business and ‘margin’ for the distribution segment. We await further details at the upcoming CMD [capital markets day] in May 2026.”
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