Britvic, the British soft drinks maker, today reported revenue up 29.9 per cent in the first nine months of its financial year but cautioned that pub sales of its beverages are under pressure as more people choose to save money and stay at home.

The company, whose brands include Robinsons, Tango and the UK franchise for Pepsi, said sales rose to £690 million for the nine months to June 30, including a contribution of £147.2 million from Britvic Ireland.

Britvic acquired the soft drinks division of C&C Group, the Irish cidermaker, last year for €249.2 million.

While Britvic said today that it had a strong presence with a number of leading pub operators, it admitted: "...we anticipate that conditions in the licensed on-premise market will remain challenging."

Sales of both soft and alcoholic drinks are suffering as cash-strapped consumers cut back on trips to the pub.

Shares in Britvic fell by nearly 10 per cent to 231p.

Today, Mitchells & Butlers, the UK pub operator, reported that beer market volumes had fallen by 10 per cent over the last quarter in line with Enterprise Inns, which earlier this week said: "Consumer confidence is low and the rising costs of food, fuel, mortgage costs and taxes have put increasing pressures on disposable income and discretionary spend."

In Ireland, pub and take-home sales declined, with revenues down 5.2 per cent and volumes down 2.9 per cent.

Britvic said: "Economic conditions in Ireland have become markedly more challenging in the last three months, driving a low to mid single digit decline in both the take home and licensed on-premise markets."

The company also said today that it expects energy costs for the year will rise by more than anticipated, up by 4.5 per cent due primarily to the increasing cost of oil.

However, the company said it expects to offset rising costs through "overall cost management", as well as lower interest charges on its debt, which stood at £403.6 million by the end of its last financial year.

Overall, UK and international sales of drinks rose by 3.7 per cent in the first nine months of the year, and by 7.4 per cent in the third quarter.

Sales volumes of still drinks in the UK outstripped fizzy beverages, rising by 4.3 per cent against an increase in carbonates of 2.5 per cent.

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