Britvic to beat year view

By Matt Scuffham

LONDON (Reuters) - Soft drinks maker Britvic (BVIC.L) said full-year profit should beat market forecasts as it benefited from good summer weather and market share gains, sending its shares higher on Tuesday.

The country's second biggest soft drinks maker behind Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE.N) said it had seen particularly strong trading in its third quarter and into its fourth quarter.

Britvic shares, which had risen nearly 20 percent this year, were up 3.1 percent to 306.75 pence at 0810 GMT (9:10 a.m. British time), having earlier gained as much as 7.5 percent.

The company, whose brands include Robinsons, Tango, and J2O, said total revenues for its third quarter to July 5 rose 5.9 percent to 249 million pounds.

Britvic, which also has exclusive rights to sell Pepsi in Britain and Ireland, said total revenues in the 40 weeks to July 5 were up 6.1 percent to 732 million pounds.

Numis analyst Nicolas Ceron, who reiterated a 'buy' and 370 pence target for the stock, said he would raise his 2009 EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) forecast to around 110 million pounds.

"Good weather conditions have helped market growth, especially in June, but importantly Britvic continues to significantly outperform the market in Great Britain," he said.

JP Morgan, which upgraded its target price on Britvic to 345 pence from 330 and repeated a 'hold' recommendation, said it had upgraded its 2009 EBIT forecast to 108.8 million pounds from 104.9 million.