Britvic, the British soft drinks maker, cautioned that pub sales of its drinks are under pressure as more people choose to save money and stay at home.

The news sent shares in the group down more than 7 per cent to close at 237p despite the 29.9 per cent jump in sales reported by the company for the first nine months of its financial year.

Britvic, which numbers Robinsons and Tango among its brands and has the UK franchise for Pepsi, said that 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 (£170 million).

While Britvic said that it had a strong presence with a number of leading pub operators, it expected that “conditions in the licensed on-premise market will remain challenging”. Sales of soft and alcoholic drinks are suffering as consumers facing rising cost of fuel and food cut back on trips to the pub.

Britvic said that it expected energy costs for the year to rise by more than expected — 4.5 per cent — mostly because of the cost of oil. However, it expected to offset rising costs through “overall cost management”, as well as lower interest charges on its debt, which stood at £403.6 million at 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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