C&C kicks off €15m share buyback despite decline in revenues

Drinks group C&C will commence a €15 million share buyback programme on Monday, despite reporting a drop in revenues in the first half of the year amid weaker cider sales in Britain over the period.
The Bulmers and Magners Irish cider-maker, which struck a deal with an activist investor in August to quell a shareholder revolt over the group’s declining share price, said net revenues are expected to be down 3 per cent for the six months to the end of August.
However, the London-listed but Ireland-based group said half-year operating profits are expected to fall in a range between €39 million and €41 million, “in line with [group] expectations” and up by about 30 per cent from the same period in 2023.
C&C said it remains “confident” it will achieve its goal of generating €100 million in annual operating profits by 2027.
Sales across its core and premium brand range was in line with expectations, the group said, while it saw growth in its Matthew, Clark & Bibendum wholesale business in the first half. Tennent’s lager achieved volume and value share growth in the first half, “supported by targeted marketing campaigns around the Euro 2024 tournament”.
Despite “mixed summer weather”, Bulmers “outperformed the cider market” in the Republic, C&C said, but cider sales and volumes in Britain were softer over the period.
The group also announced it will commence another €15 million share buyback on Monday, part of a plan to return €150 million to shareholders over the next three years after a period of significant upheaval in the boardroom.
C&C said the buyback was “underpinned by the board’s continued confidence in the medium-term outlook for the business”.
C&C came under the microscope in June when chief executive Patrick McMahon, who had been in the role for only a year, resigned abruptly as the group restated three years of its earnings resulting in an underlying charge of €5 million.
Activist shareholder Engine Capital then launched a campaign to have the group put up for sale, a push that was eventually ended in August when the board agreed, among other things, to appoint a new non-executive director. C&C announced last month that former PwC Ireland managing partner Feargal O’Rourke would join the board in that capacity.
On Monday, C&C said it plans to make a second non-executive director appointment “in the near future”, and has commenced the recruitment process for a new chief executive.