Latest news with #Bulmers
Irish Examiner
11-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Cork man who made 'appalling' threats to gardaí jailed
'Appalling, deeply offensive threats' were made to gardaí in Cork city by a man who has now been jailed for two months. George Arundela, aged 38, of no fixed address, who was living at a guest house on Western Rd, denied being intoxicated at 10pm at North Ring Rd on February 19 but did say during a hearing of his case at Cork District Court: 'I took four bags of heroin at half eight that morning.' Donal Daly solicitor cross-examined the defendant, saying the accused was not intoxicated. But the gardaí explained that the reason they stopped to talk to him was because he appeared to be intoxicated and that there was a strong smell of cannabis herb. 'He never smokes herb, he only smokes hash (resin), he says herb has a bad effect on him and hash doesn't,' Mr Daly said. He added that Mr Aundel had a bag full of alcohol unopened at the time. The prosecution evidence was that some of it was open. The solicitor said, 'He says that absolutely he had words with you but never said he would rape anyone. He said he called you c***s and sleeveens. Judge O'Leary said, 'I am a Gaeilgeoir but I don't know what (sleeveen) means. I know it is not a term of endearment.' Evidence called by Inspector Brendan McKenna was that George Arundel said to the gardaí: 'I'll rape all belonging to you, you c***.' And that he later said, 'You c***, you gowl.' George Arundel testified: 'I took four bags of heroin at half eight that morning. I was not intoxicated. '(In a bag) I had a naggin of vodka, two cans of Bulmers, and three one-litres of Linden Village cider. 'I would always get beatings, sober or drunk. My brother was with me to make sure I would get back safe to the B&B. 'Cannabis was not mine. He (garda) must have picked it up off the ground. I don't smoke herb. I smoke hash. It (herb) worsens my paranoia." The defendant said his evidence was totally correct, adding: 'A hundred million per cent. On my mother's grave.' Judge O'Leary said he had a small doubt on the intoxication charge and would dismiss it but had no doubt on the threatening charge, commenting on how offensive the threats were. 'I think he is honest in his memory but mistaken. He does apologise — a small but important consolation.' He was also convicted of being in possession of cannabis herb. When convicted, his previous convictions were outlined. They included a sentence of ten years for sex crimes, including rape in June 2012. For his latest offence a sentence of two months was imposed.
Irish Independent
07-06-2025
- Irish Independent
Man with over 100 convictions jailed for string of thefts and abusive behaviour
Thomas Greene (33), of Sarsfield Street, Sallynoggin, Co Dublin appeared before Judge Conor Fottrell at Dún Laoghaire District Court, where he pleaded guilty to 14 charges including multiple thefts, public intoxication, abusive behaviour in a public place and repeatedly failing to appear in court. The offences took place between March 2021 and March 2023. One involved Greene stealing €10 worth of petrol from Applegreen in Booterstown. In another, he shoplifted four bags of Kindle products and a €25 scarf. On January 1, 2022, he was found in an aggressive and intoxicated state on Boyle Street, Monkstown, calling gardaí 'scumbags' and refusing to provide his name and address. In March 2023, he was seen pushing a buggy while heavily intoxicated. Other charges included stealing €140 worth of Bulmers cider, and three counts of failing to appear in court. Greene has been in custody since June 2 on foot of multiple bench warrants. The court heard Greene has 107 previous convictions, including those for robbery, assault, drug and firearms offences, criminal damage, and 34 public order matters - as well as 23 for failing to appear in court. He received a four-month sentence in November 2024 from the Circuit Court for possessing a knife. Defence counsel, Sylvia-Maria Crowley BL, said Greene had a deeply troubled background, having grown up entirely in the care system, where she said he was subjected to 'serious abuse'. The court heard Greene began using drugs at 14 and spiralled into long-term addiction to heroin and cocaine, suffering a drug-induced coma and long-term health issues including seizures and fractures. Ms Crowley said Greene is now clean and has a bed awaiting him in St Michael's Unit at Beaumont Hospital, where his GP believes he urgently needs treatment due to the risk to his life. She said Greene was doing his best to get on the right track. Judge Fottrell imposed a three-month custodial sentence, backdated to June 2, saying the offending was serious and persistent. When Ms Crowley asked the court to accept €400 in cash from Greene's family in lieu of an independent surety as part of his recognisance, Judge Fottrell refused, insisting on an independent surety and remarking: 'This is a revolving situation here.'
Irish Independent
01-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
C&C must get ‘back to basics' on brands, says CEO of Bulmers firm
Roger White, who has been in post for 132 days, said criticism that C&C's branded drinks portfolio, which also includes Tennent's lager, had been stagnant for some time 'were valid'. 'I think it is an indication that we need to love what we have got a bit more first,' he told the Sunday Independent. 'I think the criticism, as you suggested, is valid. I don't think we have done anything of any material nature to stretch the brands we have got, to develop them to bring customers and consumers anything new and exciting. 'It doesn't need to be strategically earth-shattering, just stretching Bulmers and Tennent's,' he added. 'These are brands that can carry innovation, that can carry new things into the market, that can carry limited editions. They just need a bit of 'new news'. We need to keep them fresh and at the centre of consumers' minds.' White said the UK-listed drinks group had a strong balance sheet capable of making acquisitions. However, this was not his 'primary objective' at the moment, with the current focus on improving what C&C already owns. 'I think it would be stupid of me to say that we are definitely not doing anything because we have got the financial capacity, and if the right thing comes along that creates the right amount of value for shareholders, then it is incumbent on us to fully review it,' he said about acquisitions. 'But it is not our primary focus.' White was speaking after C&C released its results for the year ended February 28. While revenue was flat at €1.66bn, pre-exceptional operating profit jumped 29pc to €77.1m, with Tennent's and Bulmers securing market share gains. The positive results come after a turbulent period for C&C. Last year, the Bulmers maker's former CEO, Patrick McMahon, stood down following accounting errors at the company. Shareholder Engine Capital also called for a sale of the business, describing it as a 'perennial underperformer'. White said C&C's results for the year were 'solid rather than outstanding' as the business looks to bounce back from previous problems. 'I think this is a bit of a recovery year,' he said. 'We are happy that we put in a solid, resilient performance across the group. It is good to see customer service levels across our business recovering, giving our customers increased levels of support. 'My focus is really on simplification, focusing on execution, getting everybody focused on their customers and trying to get hold of what are great brands and make them even better by developing them and bringing something new to customers in all our markets. Something that is valuable to them, tangible and will improve all their businesses.' Asked what the market could see C&C do with its brands, White said some examples could include enhancing its low and no-alcohol offerings and bringing 'excitement and interest both in the liquid and the packaging to bear'. Magners, the UK equivalent of Bulmers, is currently undergoing a revamp in the market. White said this would include a new marketing campaign, refreshed packaging, and improving the zero-alcohol proposition 'in the short term'. 'I don't think there is any particular rocket science,' he said. 'It is just giving the brand the love it needs. 'It is a brand with lots of equity. So consumers know the brand, they recognise it, and there is no awareness issue with it. We just need to move it back up their purchase intent. That is about getting front of mind and reminding people what is great about the brand.' C&C also owns the Five Lamps lager brand in Ireland, which has been marketed as a Dublin-brewed craft beer-style product. The craft beer industry has undergone its own challenges in recent years. How will C&C enhance the Five Lamps brand? White said there was 'work to do'. 'We need to be really clear how we are going to support and get behind some of these smaller brands like Five Lamps. I think the product is good. 'If I was brutally honest, I don't think there has been a particularly well-thought-through plan of how we are going to grow and develop some of these smaller brands.' Following last year's calls from Engine Capital for C&C to sell some of its assets, the drinks group struck a deal with the US-based activist investor that would see it appoint a new non-executive director. I've still got to fully understand how the business all works, how it all fits together White said there are no reviews about selling brands. 'As far as I'm concerned, we have got a clean slate. From my point of view, that is why I took this job. I've still got to fully understand how the business all works, how it all fits together, what we can do with our brands and how we can create value over the long term for shareholders. 'I would say I have plenty of work to do to get my head around that. But, we are focused on the basics just at the minute.' Looking to the year ahead, there appears to be some optimism around C&C, reflected in its share price jumping by over 3pc in London at one stage following its results announcement. We have had a nice few weeks of weather, which always makes you feel a little bit better White, who was the boss of Irn Bru maker AG Barr, is well-versed in leading a business through a period of transformation. He is now looking forward to working on his plan, no matter the challenges that come his way. 'We have had a nice few weeks of weather, which always makes you feel a little bit better about life,' he said. 'It has been an encouraging start to the year. But, we are still very conscious that hospitality in all geographies is tough.'
Irish Times
31-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
How Bulmers owner's new chief plans to put the fizz back into former market darling
The first stock market outing of C&C Group's new chief executive, Roger White, in March had an all-too-familiar feel to it. Less than two months in the job, White presided over a warning in a trading update that the cider and beer maker's earnings for the year to the end of February were going to be 'modestly below' target. He also dropped the company's goal of reaching a €100 million operating profit in its 2027 financial year, saying it would be hit in the 'medium term' The overreaction by the stock market – with C&C's shares sliding almost 20 per cent in London – suggested a slump in confidence in a company that already lost almost 60 per cent its value over the previous five years amid a series of missteps, executive changes and disappointments. C&C has been buffeted over this period by Covid lockdowns and the need for a £151 million (€179.5 million) share sale; defeat in the US market as it accepted $20 million (€17.6 million) to get rid of a problem cider business that cost $305 million a decade earlier; inflation; and the botched initial implementation of a new warehousing software system at its UK wholesale unit. READ MORE Then, last June, it faced the ignominy of having to restate three years of accounts , resulting in a net charge of €5 million, after finding errors spanning inventory issues in its Bulmers facility in Clonmel to the accounting treatment of glassware. [ C&C shares plunge in March Opens in new window ] White, C&C's fifth chief executive in as many years, did not hold back this week when he unveiled its full-year results where operating profit rebounded 17 per cent to €77.1 million – about €3 million short of what the company had been guiding before the alert in March. While he said that the brand portfolio – including Bulmers, Tennents and Magners – had 'significant development and growth potential', some areas had 'been neglected'. 'Innovation has been somewhat absent and insight somewhat lacking,' White, who previously served for 22 years as chief executive of FTSE 250 drinks company AG Barr, told analysts on a call on Wednesday. 'Many of the historic issues experienced by C&C have been self-inflicted. Complex operating models, poor systems, and a lack of execution focus have dogged the business. We are determined to bring simplicity and executional focus to the business.' It is easy, of course, for a newcomer to pillory the past. Rebooting a group – which also includes a drinks supply business to hospitality sectors on both sides of the Irish Sea – that had lost its way is another thing. So, what are White's big ideas? For Tennents, Scotland's No 1 beer brand and C&C's biggest seller, he sees 'immediate opportunities' for zero- and low-alcohol versions that are being redeveloped. Its current offering has had mixed reviews. Bulmers, whose €63.5 million of sales last year was about half that of Tennents, will also be given a light makeover to 'revitalise the look and feel of the brand' – and a hard push in the 0.0 alcohol space. But White sees a big opportunity in Magners cider, a brand that carried the investment case when C&C was a market darling two decades ago. Magners is now a shadow of its heyday in the hot summer of 2006, when icy pints fuelled England fans as the three lions made it to the World Cup quarter-finals. C&C took back the sale and marketing of Magners in England and Wales in January – under chairman and caretaker chief executive Ralph Findlay – after eight years in the hands of Anheuser-Busch InBev. 'It's undoubtedly been a tough few years for the Magners brand,' said White. 'However, we now have a real opportunity to reinvigorate this brand, to bring it back to what it used to be. It's now back in our full control, both from a marketing perspective and from a sales execution perspective.' He cautioned, however, that 'the reinvigoration of Magners will take time and continued investment'. The Matthew Clark Bibendum (MCB) UK beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks distribution business – which C&C picked up at a deeply discounted price in a distressed sale in 2018 – has been through the wringer, losing customers as a result of a badly managed roll-out of a complex new warehousing software system a few years ago. White has first-hand experience of the problems, as AG Barr is a supplier to MCB. While MCB saw a recovery in customer numbers last year as it restored service levels, White says there is still work to do to improve the proposition for customers – including further technology investment. Shares in C&C have rallied by a third since the profit warning in March – including a gain of about 6 per cent posted this week alone. It leaves the stock trading broadly in line with the wider European beverages sector, relative to earnings forecasts, according to Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Patrick Higgins. [ Solid year for C&C as drinks group remains resilient Opens in new window ] White certainly made the right noises this week. But some observers reckon investors will now hold out for delivery. Analysts, from Barclays to Shore Capital, now reckon it will be C&C's 2029 financial year before it reaches its €100 million operating profit target. Nothing added but time?
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Operating profits at drinks group C&C fizz 28% higher
Drinks group C&C has reported higher profits and revenues for the year ended 28 February 2025 and said that current trading for the year ahead is encouraging. C&C manufactures, markets and distributes branded beer, cider, wine, spirits and soft drinks across Ireland and the UK. Its brands include Bulmers and Magners cider as well as Tennent's and Five Lamps beer. Its operating profit before exceptional items for the year jumped by 28.5% to £77.1m from £60m, while its net revenue edged up to £1.665 billion from £1.652 billion the previous year. Adjusted profits before tax for the year rose to £55.9m from £38.8m, and C&C has proposed a final dividend of 4.13 cent, up 4% on the previous year. C&C said it was seeing a "limited" tariff impact on trading and costs, adding that current trading was encouraging and it was making no change to the expected outturn for the financial year. But it noted total employment costs in the UK will grow in the coming year due to the increase in the National Minimum Wage and employer National Insurance contributions announced by the UK government in its October 2024 Budget. "The introduction of further legislative activity, such as the Extended Producer Responsibility Levy and the already introduced Deposit Return Scheme in Ireland, will cause further price inflation, as these costs and taxes are passed on to customers and consumers. "Against this backdrop, the focus on prudent management of our cost base, alongside ongoing plans to simplify the business and improve operating efficiency, combined with continued strong customer service, remain our operating priorities," it added. C&C said its Tennent's and Bulmers brands achieved market share gains during the year and maintained their market-leading positions. Its Magners brand relaunch is underway with initial Off-Trade gains, it added. Roger White, C&C's group chief executive, said the group has progressed on a number of fronts over the last year, despite the ongoing challenging macro and market backdrop. "Our two leading brands, Tennent's and Bulmers gained market share and we see future growth opportunities for both. Our Premium brand performance is encouraging, benefitting from ongoing consumer appeal for premium beer and cider which is driving growth in this segment," the CEO said. "Within Distribution, Matthew Clark Bibendum continued to deliver positive momentum, achieving consistently improved service levels, growing its customer base by 8%," he added. Mr White said that year to date trading is encouraging. "With the key summer trading period ahead, we are executing our plans for the year, supporting our customers, investing in innovation and brand-building, people, and systems, whilst continuing to simplify the business and control costs, he said. "We remain focussed on building a solid platform from which we can maximise the potential of the group. We are developing plans to grow sustainably whilst delivering on our financial targets, creating increased long-term shareholder value," he concluded.
