The world’s largest producer of own-brand soft drink products Cott Corporation has reported record profits for its third quarter. The company announced a profit of US$25.7m, or 36 cents a diluted share, for the third quarter ended on September 27, compared to US$19.8m, or 28 cents a diluted share, for the same quarter last year.
The rise was in part due to a 15% increase in sales from last year, which reached US$389.8m from US$338.8m last year.
Frank Weise, Cott chairman and chief executive, attributed the stronger-than-expected results to the increase in retailers use of own brands. He said that one in five items sold in US supermarkets was now a retailer brand.
“Private labels grew at twice the pace of national brands between 1997 and 2002,” Weise told a conference call with analysts.
The company also raised its forecast for its full year earnings results to between US$1.03 and US$1.07 per share. Sales are expected to increase by between 13% and 16%. These compare to forecasts in July of earnings per share of 97 cents to $1, and a sales increase of 15%.
