How One Company Beats Coca-Cola At Home

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In most countries, the market for carbonated soft drinks is dominated by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO.US) and PepsiCo (Euronext: PEP.NX - news) . Everyone else either has to find a niche that these two giants aren't interested in, or settle for third place at best. A good example is the fate of Virgin Cola, which was launched in a blaze of publicity in 1994 when the boss of Cott (Berlin: GC6.BE - news) , the company that made it, said that "Coke (NYSE: KO - news) and Pepsi are passé". I haven't seen it on sale for years. But there are a few markets where Coca-Cola and Pepsi are held at bay by the locals. One of these is Scotland where AG Barr holds the top spot with Irn-Bru. Yesterday, Barr reported its results for 2011 and once again the company whose drink is "Made in Scotland from Girders" has turned in a good set of figures.

The figures

Barr's headline earnings per share (eps) increased by 24.8% to 73.4p, though this falls to 66.8p when the exceptional items are taken into account, which represents a gain of 9.1%. The full-year dividend was increased by 10% to 27.95p, so based on the current price of 1,228p, Barr's shares are on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.7 (or 18.4) where they yield 2.3%. The difference in the two eps figures is due to two exceptional items: a gain on the sale of a production facility and a reduction of its pension scheme liabilities.....Read more here--: How One Company Beats Coca-Cola At Home