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The Dublin-headquartered company said this principally reflected the transfer of Budweiser distribution in the Republic of Ireland. Underlying operating profit of €41.9m was up 4pc despite what C&C said was a challenging market backdrop, marked by shifting consumer trends. While there has been little change in the number of licensed premises in the UK, “shorter opening days and hours and variable footfall has driven volume challenges across certain hospitality channels”. The London-listed company said the Irish on-trade is experiencing similar headwinds, with growing cost pressures and some variability in consumer demand. “International visitor spend in June was down 6pc year-on-year, though still ahead of 2023 levels,” C&C said. “Grocery prices continued their inflationary trend in 2025, outpacing overall inflation, and recently reaching 6.3pc.” The group's portfolio includes Tennent's as well as Bulmers, both of which delivered net revenue growth and improved market share, C&C said. Tennent’s outperformed total lager in the on-trade channel, increasing market share by 0.6 percentage points. “Bulmers’ net revenues in the period were up 6.6pc. The positive impact of the summer weather in Ireland supported our performance with total cider market volumes, in both on-trade and off-trade, with growth at 4.1pc and 5.8pc respectively in the latest six months,” the company said. C&C took back control of its cider portfolio in Britain last January, and says Magners has made “encouraging progress” in the off-licence trade there. Adjusted Ebitda was up 2pc to €58.1m and the interim dividend is up 4pc to 2.08c per share, which is due to be paid on December 12. The board is sticking to its stated intention to distribute €150m to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buybacks over the three years ending in 2027. “To that end, a further €15m share buyback programme was completed in the period,” it said. “Including the interim dividend, this will bring the cumulative return to €92m and we are well on track to deliver on this plan.” A recruitment process is underway to find a replacement for chief financial officer Andrew Andrea, who is taking up a new role at Domino’s Pizza Group and is due to leave over the next few months. Roger White, the chief executive of C&C, 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.” The group also reported underlying free cashflow of €41.7m, and said it has bank facilities extending to 2030 and no short-term refinancing requirements.
