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Soft-drinks maker Britvic deferred its dividend despite reporting higher half-yearly profit as cost cuts helped offset a fall in revenue following nationwide lockdown measures that hurt out-of-home sales.
'Given the uncertain environment we find ourselves in the board has decided to take a very prudent position and defer the decision on the dividend until later in the year, when there will be more visibility of the full impact of Covid-19 on the business,' the company said.
For the 26 weeks ended 31 March 2020, pre-tax profit rose to £53.5m from £45.2m on-year, while revenue slipped 9.1% to £698.8m
Since mid-March, government restrictions on general people movement and on trading activity in the hospitality industry had significantly impacted its out-of-home sector, including on-the-go consumption, the company said.