In an update shared ahead of the group’s AGM today, C&C said it remains confident of achieving its earnings expectations for the full year, which is set to end next February.
The group will also commence the second €15m tranche of its share buyback programme at the start of September.
C&C previously announced it intends to return at least €150m to shareholders over the next three financial years ending in February 2025, 2026 and 2027.
A previous share buyback scheme, which began on March 1, has been completed.
The directors have also proposed a final dividend of 3.97 cent per share, which is subject to shareholder approval at today’s meeting.
C&C has appointed IDA chair Feargal O’Rourke as an independent non-executive director. The group reported the move comes as part of the board’s ongoing programme of “refreshment and renewal”.
This is separate from the group’s recent engagement with Engine Capital, it added.
Engine Capital, which owns just under 5pc of beer and cider maker C&C Group, called for a sale of the business in June.
In a letter to the group’s board, Engine Capital called on the Bulmers maker to explore “strategic alternatives” for the company.
The activist investor described C&C Group as a “perennial underperformer,” adding that its current trading valuation is entirely disconnected from the strategic value of its assets.
Earlier this month, C&C made a deal with Engine Capital to appoint a new non-executive director “with capital markets expertise” to its board from an agreed list.
Following the agreement, Engine Capital said it would withdraw the two nominees it had planned to put forward for election at today’s meeting. It added that it would agree to all resolutions at the meeting.
C&C, which has manufacturing operations in Co Tipperary, owns Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s, as well as brands such as Five Lamps and Orchard Pig.
The group exports its Magners and Tennent’s brands to over 40 countries.
The company reported a pre-tax loss of £111m for the year to the end of February, plunging from a profit of £52m the prior year. It reported weaker demand for cider in Britain but success from Tennent’s and Bulmers here.
It will also publish a half year trading update next month.
