Britvic continues to lead the way in soft drink sales.

One of the leading UK soft drinks manufacturers, Britvic, has announced a rise in operating profit of 17.7% for the 52 weeks to 12th April 2009, to £483.2 million.

The drinks company, which owns brands including Tango, 7UP, Pepsi, J20 and R Whites, has reported a very successful year and said that its interim dividend per share will be 4.1p, up 7.9% on last year.

Still drinks – Robinsons, Fruit Shoot, Gatorade and Drench – have driven volumes up by 6%, outperforming the rest of the still drinks market by 12%. The carbonated drinks market fared well too, with an improving performance by Tango boosting volumes by 7.5%.

Commenting on the results, Paul Moody, Britvic Chief Executive, said: “Britvic has again delivered strong increases in revenue, profit before tax and earnings against the backdrop of very challenging economic conditions. Our brands have continued to outperform in each of our key markets.”

In other news, Britvic has succumbed to a dare from social networkers on blogging website bragster.com, which will see the labelling on cans of Tango turned upside down. The dare is consistent with the innovative and quirky nature of the drink and Sally Symes, Senior Brand Manager for Tango said: “Tango is a brand that likes to do the unexpected and turn things upside down.

“The new upside-down cans will only be available for a limited period but will significantly increase visibility in display units and consumer interest in the two and half million cans available.”