We're a highly focused soft drinks business. Our brand portfolio includes Vimto , which is sold in over 70 countries, Levi Roots, Weight Watchers, Sunkist and Panda, which are sold in the UK. We have a leading market position in both the still and carbonate drinks categories and also in the soft drinks on dispense market.





http://www.nicholsplc.co.uk/

Preliminary results

Upgrade 9 Mar Investec 1,240.00 Buy

IC - On 19 times forecast earnings , Nichols shares trade at a discount to both their historic average multiple and the sector average. This steady performer is worth it.

Ex-Dividend
02 Apr 15 Nichols PLC [NICL] (15.3 p)

AGM trading update and acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 6120L
Nichols PLC
29 April 2015





Date:
Immediate release, Wednesday 29th April 2015



Contacts:
John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman

Marnie Millard, Group Chief Executive

Tim Croston, Group Finance Director

Nichols plc

Telephone: 01925 222222

Website:www.nicholsplc.co.uk






Nick Lyon / Alex Brennan
Richard Lindley

Hudson Sandler (Financial PR)
N+1 Singer (Nominated Adviser)

Telephone:020 7796 4133
Telephone: 0207 496 3000

Email: nichols@hspr.com
Website: www.n1singer.com






Nichols plc

AGM trading update and acquisition


John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman of Nichols plc, the soft drinks group, will make the following statement at the Group's Annual General Meeting to be held at 11.00 am today:



Current Trading


Group trading for the first quarter of 2015 is ahead of the prior year. Whilst the Board are happy with the first quarter performance, we anticipate that both the UK grocery and soft drinks markets will remain challenging for the remainder of the year. At this time we are expecting to deliver full year results in line with expectations.



During the year we plan to continue delivering our growth strategy with a focus on value over volume. We have already commenced a Vimto sales drive in the Midlands which will continue throughout the summer, this includes increased regional advertising and promotional activity aimed at enhancing distribution in this important region. In our Out of Home business, we will be focused on implementing the new Coca Cola dispense deal as announced earlier in the year.



Acquisition



We are delighted to announce that the Group has taken an initial 49% equity stake in The Noisy Drinks Co Ltd.



Noisy Drinks distributes slush drinks under the Starslush brand and had an annual turnover of £6.6m in its last financial year. The company has its own national network in the UK and also distributes to a number of key customers in mainland Europe. Noisy's operating model is closely aligned with our own Out of Home business and our investment provides an opportunity for both commercial and operating synergies.





- ENDS -

Interim results and acquisition

Acquisition



We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the Feel Good brand. Feel Good is an established range of premium juice drinks containing no added sugar and 100% natural ingredients. The brand is sold in the UK through the retail and on-trade channels, in addition there are export sales to mainland Europe.



The acquisition is a key part of our growth strategy and we plan to further develop the Feel Good brand across our established UK and international markets supported by increased marketing resource and investment.

29 Jul Investec 1,500.00 Hold

six-aim-shares-survive-stockmarket-sell

Nichols (NICL)

1,404p

Like James Halstead, soft drinks manufacturer Nichols (NICL) was previously on the Main Market and it has a long track record. Merseyside-based Nichols supplies Vimto soft drinks, as well as brands such as Sunkist, under licence. The Middle East is an important market and international markets make a similar contribution to revenues as the UK. In recent years, Nichols has managed to grow revenues and profit margins. At the interim stage, revenues were flat at £54.7 million but underlying profit rose from £10 million to £10.9 million.

Sugary drinks have a negative image but Nichols is already selling more reduced sugar drinks and the international nature of the business also helps. In fact, the latest acquisition is the Feel Good brand of juice drinks with no added sugar, which can be marketed in the UK and internationally.

An improvement in pre-tax profit from £25.7 million to £27.9 million is forecast for this year, rising to £30 million next year. The shares are trading on just under 22 times 2015-16 prospective earnings. There has been consistent growth in dividends and they are expected to reach 24.4p a share this year and 26.4p a share in 2015-16. That reflects the track record and the potential value of the brand to an acquirer.

Nichols PLC (NICL:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 1,485. Over this period, the share price is up 48.87%.

Trading statement Fri 8 Jan

Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 2157L
Nichols PLC
08 January 2016





Date:
Embargoed until 07.00 Friday 8th January 2016



Contacts:
John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman

Marnie Millard, Group Chief Executive

Tim Croston, Group Chief Financial Officer

Nichols plc

Telephone: 01925 222222

Website:www.nicholsplc.co.uk




Nick Lyon
Richard Lindley

Hudson Sandler
N+1 Singer (Nominated Adviser)

Telephone:020 7796 4133
Telephone: 0207 496 3000

Email: nichols@hspr.com
Website: www.n1singer.com






Nichols plc

Trading Update


Nichols plc ("the Group"), today issues the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2015.



Group revenue for the year was £109.3m, which is in line with the prior year and management expectations.



Whilst the UK soft drinks market has remained challenging, the Group has a strong international business where sales grew by 1.5% compared to 2014 and 3.9% on a constant currency basis. Reported export sales in the year totalled £24.4m, an increase of £0.4m. This was despite the difficulties in shipping to Yemen, due to the ongoing conflict in the region.



Total UK sales were £84.9m, a marginal decline of 0.3% compared to 2014 although slightly ahead of the total UK soft drinks market performance which declined by 0.7% (Nielsen year to 5 December 2015). Within the UK, we maintained our value over volume strategy for the Vimto brand, resulting in growth of 4% in the Still category and a 7% decline in the promotionally led Carbonate category.



In summary, Group 2015 sales performance is per our expectations and whilst the UK market remains challenging, our international business has continued to deliver good growth. We expect full year profit and earnings per share to be ahead of the prior year and in line with market expectations.



The Group's Preliminary results will be announced on 2 March 2016.

Broker Forecast - Investec issues a broker note on Nichols PLC
Investec today reaffirms its hold investment rating on Nichols PLC (LON:NICL) and cut its price target to 1440p (from 1500p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Broker Forecast - Investec issues a broker note on Nichols PLC
Investec today upgrades its investment rating on Nichols PLC (LON:NICL) to buy (from hold) and left its price target at 1440p. Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Nichols schedules prelim results
StockMarketWire.com
Nichols has confirmed that the Company will be announcing its preliminary results, for the year ended 31 December 2015, on Wednesday 2 March 2016.



At 12:59pm: (LON:NICL) Nichols PLC share price was +20.5p at 1244.5p

Broker Forecast - Berenberg issues a broker note on Nichols PLC
Berenberg today initiates coverage of Nichols PLC (LON:NICL) with a buy investment rating and price target of 1450p. Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Market Buzz

Berenberg initiates coverage of mid-cap drinks makers

Fri, 26 February 2015

(ShareCast News) - Berenberg initiated coverage on the four UK mid-cap soft drinks manufacturers, highlighting a preference for Britvic and Nichols.
"We feel this market is often overlooked by investors due to the lack of absolute growth in the end-markets. However, we believe these businesses score well on several elements relative to our broader UK mid-cap coverage."

The bank said they typically generate strong and stable margins driven by operating efficiencies, they can deploy capital on value-accretive M&A, and they have demonstrated a good level of success by UK and international expansion.

It started Britvic and Nichols with a 'buy' rating and 850p and 1,450p price targets, respectively.

The bank said its preference for these two was mainly due to a combination of a propensity for future EPS upgrades and reasonable valuations.

On Britvic, it said EPS momentum was stabilising and there are several areas that could surprise to the upside, such as margin uplift from supply chain investment, Fruit Shoot's move into the $2bn US multipack market, and the International division returning to profitability.

"We believe these upside risks are not reflected in the current 14.3x FY 2016E P/E multiple, which makes the stock the cheapest among soft drinks peers and in the broader consumer sector."

As far as Nichols is concerned, it said recent acquisitions of Feel Good and Noisy Drinks have helped drive strong EPS momentum. In addition, the company generates much higher margins and return on invested capital than most peers.

Berenberg started AG Barr and Fevertree with 'hold' ratings and 550p and 570p targets, respectively.

It said Fevertree was an exciting prospect and demonstrates many of the characteristics it looks for, but growth potential is more than reflected in the valuation.

On AG Barr, it said the group has a number of opportunities but it is too early to be confident of success, so the current valuation is justified.

Preliminary results

3 Mar Investec 1,440.00 Buy

Nichols steady

StockMarketWire.com

Nichols Plc said its FY group trading performance is in line with management expectations. It expects to deliver FY earnings in line with market expectations.

"Whilst trading conditions within the UK grocery market remain challenging, our UK revenues are benefiting from the incremental impact of both The Noisy Drinks Company Limited, of which we acquired the remaining equity in January 2016, and the Feel Good brand acquired in July 2015," the company said.

"This year we have launched Vimto Remix which adds new exciting flavours to the Vimto range. As with all of our new product introductions in recent years, Remix is only available in no added sugar options.

"Our focus has also been on preparing for the re-launch of the Feel Good brand, a range of premium adult juice drinks which have no added sugar and contain 100% natural ingredients. The re-launch will be introduced to the trade ahead of the summer trading season."