Nichols PLC on Wednesday remained optimistic of further growth in the year ahead, after upping its dividend on a strong financial year.

For the year ended December 31, the Merseyside, England-based soft drink manufacturer reported pretax profit of £24.3 million, up 75% from £13.8 million a year prior.

Revenue also improved, up 3.5% to £170.7 million from £164.9 million.

Contributing to this uplift was an increase in Nichols’ Overall Packaged business segment revenue, up 6.1%. International Packaged revenue was up 17%, with double-digit growth in all geographic segments, while UK Packaged revenue was up 1.3%.

Adjusted earnings per share were 56.41 pence from 55.38p the previous year, and basic earnings per share were 50.34p, up 58% from 31.86p.

The firm declared a final dividend of 15.6p, up 2% from 15.3p. Total dividend, meanwhile, was 28.2p, up 1.8% from 27.7p.

Looking ahead, Nichols said that trading has started well this year, with a performance ‘in line with management expectations’, adding that it remained confident of delivering ‘further strategic progress’ across its businesses in financial 2024.

‘Our diversified business model provides the foundation for continued success, reinforced by our well-established portfolio of owned and licensed brands, the close partnerships we have with our suppliers and customers and our long-term strategic focus,’ said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Milne.

‘These strengths, coupled with a resilient soft drinks market and the dedication of our people, will enable us to continue to deliver value to shareholders.’

Nichols shares were trading 6.6% higher at 1,076.25 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

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