C&C Group – ‘2025 has been another year of turbulence for hospitality industry with shifting consumer trends’: C&C Group has said 2025 has been another year of turbulence for the hospitality industry with shifting consumer trends. In its accounts for the six months ended 31 August 2025, the group said: “2025 has been another year of turbulence for the hospitality industry, influenced by changing fiscal and economic conditions, shifting consumer trends and varied levels of consumer confidence. Despite these challenges, there has been little material change in the number of licensed on-trade premises we serve. However, shorter opening days/hours and variable footfall has driven volume challenges across certain hospitality channels. Drink-led venues have proved more resilient, growing 1.0% in the last 12 months whereas food-led outlets fell 2.9%. In the UK on-trade, the shift in mix towards beer and cider continued in the year, as consumers increased spending on both categories due to notable preference towards lower tempo occasions as well as the prioritisation of longer serves that represent greater value for money. Consequently, beer has once again grown its value share in the on-trade, rising by 0.8 percentage points, now representing 45.4% of total category value share. Within the beer category, stout continues to be the standout winner with sales value increasing 17% versus the prior year. This growth in beer has been at the expense of wines and spirits, both of which have seen value share losses in the year. Wine value share has experienced a moderate decline of 0.4%, largely reflecting reduced demand through its two largest channels, hotels, and restaurants. Spirits value share has declined by 1.0% in the year, with gin leading the volume decline within the category. We expect to see continued solid trading in the second half-year, and we have strong plans in place for the key Christmas trading period. Our overall cost projections for the year remain in line with our original forecasts. At this early stage, we do not anticipate any significant changes to the inflationary environment for FY2027. We remain committed to the delivery of our full year earnings expectations for FY2026.” It comes as the group reported net revenue was down 4% to €825.7m from €861.4m the year before, “principally reflecting the transfer of Budweiser Brewing Group volume in the Republic of Ireland”. Adjusted Ebitda was up 2% to €58.1m from €57.0m while adjusted profit before tax increased 12% to €32.1m from €28.6m.The company stated: “Tennent’s outperformed total lager in the on-trade channel, increasing market share by a further 0.6 percentage points in the latest 28-week period. We also progressed our development plans in the ‘no and low’ space with the relaunch of a reformulated improved Tennent’s Zero product and a relaunch of Tennent’s Light. Following our regaining control of the Magners brand in the UK in January 2025, our actions to reinvigorate the brand have commenced; kicking off with a significant programme of above the line marketing activity, aimed to put Magners firmly back on consumers radar as the original Irish cider over ice. As anticipated, the reinvigoration of Magners will take time and these are important first steps in this programme. Although Magners’ volumes in the period were behind last year, we have started to make positive progress especially in the off-trade with a number of new listings and an improving rate of sale. However, this was more than offset by weaker performance in the on-trade where a clear growth opportunity exists but will take more time to deliver. We continue to make good progress across our range of premium brands, with particularly strong performances in our premium Italian lager, Menabrea. We continue to see significant growth opportunities in the medium term for our premium brands across our key markets. Bulmers net revenues in the period were up 6.6%. Bulmers has achieved share gains in the off-trade while maintaining stable share in the on-trade. During the period we launched Bulmers Zero with very positive initial volumes.” Chief executive Roger White said: “We have delivered a solid first-half performance against a challenging market backdrop. We continue to invest in initiatives to support improved business performance – building brands, delivering service, range and value to customers and consumers. In addition, we have made good initial progress in our programme to simplify and improve our core business processes. We believe we are well prepared for the all-important festive trading period, and while we expect challenging economic conditions to persist, we remain committed to the delivery of our full-year earnings targets.”