Magners owner C&C Group posted steady profits in its first half despite the summer’s “unfavourable” weather causing sales to lag.

The drinks manufacturer reported that in the six months ending 31 August, underlying operating profits jumped 29% to £33.5m (€40.3m). It added that it was on track to hitting £66.6m (€80m) for the full financial year 2025, and £833.5m (€100m) for 2027.

However, the premium drinks company, which has Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s within its portfolio, revealed that its sales dipped in the half year to £717.9m (€861.4m), following the offloading of its non-core soft drinks business in Ireland.

Meanwhile, its branded business sales fell by 9.1% and Magners volumes plunged to 10%, with the business saying this year’s wet summer and fans travelling aboard for the Germany hosted Euro 2024 games hit alcohol consumption.

Chair and interim chief executive Ralph Findlay said: “I am pleased to report earnings in-line with expectations in HY2025 as we rebuild performance and momentum within the business.”

“Despite unfavourable summer weather, our brands demonstrated inherent appeal and resilience with both Tennent’s and Bulmers growing market share and Menabrea and Orchard Pig achieving double digit revenue growth.

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“We continue to make improvements with regards to customer service, which underpins our customer acquisition strategy.

“As we enter the busy Christmas and New Year trading period, we are committed to delivering outstanding service, winning customers, continuing to simplify the business and to further improve operating efficiency.”

C&C Group is currently on the hunt for a new CEO, following chief executive Patrick McMahon in June resigning “with immediate effect” over the revelation of a series of financial errors.

The financial shortcomings span across multiple years and involved significant adjustments to the group’s financial statements, including the addition of multi-million pound charges.

Speaking about the impact of these financial issues in today’s (29 October) half-year update, the Magners-owner added: “As previously reported in June 2024, the group identified a number of accounting errors which have resulted in the restatement of results for the 31 August 2023 (HY2024) reporting period.

“The net result of these restatements has been the reallocation of €7.6m (£6.3m) of operating profit from H2 to H1 in FY2024.”