Cadbury Schweppes has announced a rise in pretax profits of 12 per cent for the year.
Before one-off costs, the group made an annual profit of £886 million sterling, up from £792 million sterling the previous year.
The results are ahead of analysts' forecasts which ranged from £850-£873 million sterling.
Chief executive Mr John Sunderland said the group has seen "another excellent financial performance from our beverages operations with particularly strong results from Mott's and Europe Beverages".
He says the company's string of nine acquisitions through 2001 - including Slush Puppie and Orangina - are all performing in line with or ahead of expectations.
Mr Sunderland added the overall confectionery performance was "encouraging", with the majority of businesses showing "good financial and volume growth".
Total sales increased 21 per cent to £5.519 billion, up from £4.575 billion.
The group is paying a final dividend of 7.65p, bringing the total dividend for the year to 11p, an increase of 5 per cent.
PA