C&C sees drop in full-year earnings

Drinks group C&C said today poor summer weather and a weak Christmas in Britain had put it on course for a drop in full-year…

Drinks group C&C said today poor summer weather and a weak Christmas in Britain had put it on course for a drop in full-year earnings.

Shares in C&C, which had already fallen by 70 per cent from last January after two previous profit warnings, fell by as much as 17 per cent in early trade.

They were trading nearly 10 per cent lower at €3.51 by 9.53am, underperforming a 1.3 per cent fall on the wider Irish market. Its shares in London were down by more than 8 per cent.

C&C saw revenue for the year to end February 2008 falling by about 10 per cent, with its operating profit margin expected to drop by about 10 percentage points.

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It said it expected earnings per share for the 2007/08 year to be at the lower end of market forecasts. It gave no detail.