C&C Group Full-Year Results: Revenue Falls but Strategic Shift Underway

C&C Group’s FY2026 results are a bit of a split-screen story. The headline numbers were weaker, with revenue, profit, earnings per share and cash flow all lower year on year. But underneath that, the branded drinks business actually improved, and management is now openly reshaping the group around that reality.

That matters because C&C is no longer trying to tell investors one neat “everything works together” story. It is moving away from the old “One C&C” model and towards two distinct engines – C&C Brands for growth, and Matthew Clark Bibendum for margin recovery. Frankly, that looks sensible based on these numbers.

C&C Group FY2026 results: the key numbers investors need to know

Metric	FY2026	FY2025
Net revenue	€1,569.8 million	€1,665.5 million
Adjusted EBITDA	€104.3 million	€112.0 million
Operating profit before exceptional items	€70.5 million	€77.1 million
Operating margin	4.5%	4.6%
Profit before tax before exceptional items	€49.8 million	€55.9 million
Adjusted basic EPS	10.2 cent	11.7 cent
Basic EPS	0.9 cent	3.5 cent
Free cash flow excluding exceptional items	€45.3 million	€68.8 million
Net debt excluding leases	€121.4 million	€80.9 million
Leverage ratio	1.6x	0.9x
Proposed final dividend	3.67 cent	4.13 cent

C&C Group revenue falls 5.7% but the branded drinks business held up well

Group net revenue fell by 5.7% to €1,569.8 million. Management says that was partly due to the planned exit of Budweiser Brewing Group contractual volume in the Republic of Ireland, as well as tough hospitality markets hitting the Distribution division.

That distinction is important. Some of the revenue decline was operational pain, but some of it was deliberate portfolio change. Investors should not treat all of the drop as a sign that demand suddenly fell off a cliff across the whole business.

The brighter patch was Branded. Revenue there rose 4% to €309.5 million, operating profit increased 11% to €51.0 million, and operating margin improved to 16.5% from 15.4%.

Tennent’s and Bulmers both did what investors want their core brands to do – grow and defend market leadership. Bulmers volumes rose 2% and net revenue increased 3%, while Tennent’s delivered value growth and gained share in Scotland’s on-trade lager market.

That is the best part of this update. C&C’s owned brands look healthier than the group-level headline suggests.

Matthew Clark Bibendum and Distribution were the real drag on C&C profits

The problem area was Distribution, which includes Matthew Clark Bibendum, or MCB. Net revenue fell 8% to €1,260.3 million, operating profit dropped to €19.5 million from €31.0 million, and margin fell to 1.5% from 2.3%.

This is a classic low-margin wholesale squeeze. Customers are under pressure, pubs and restaurants are struggling, and drinkers are shifting away from higher-margin wine and spirits towards long alcoholic drinks. That means you can shift volume without making much money from it.

In Ireland, Distribution revenue was down 27%, heavily affected by the loss of the BBG portfolio in the off-trade channel. Again, this was linked to the reciprocal deal where C&C took back control of its cider portfolio in England and Wales.

If you are wondering why management is changing strategy, the answer is sitting right here. Branded is growing and getting more profitable. Distribution is larger, but under real pressure and needs fixing.

C&C cash flow, debt and dividend: still solid enough, but heading the wrong way

Adjusted EBITDA – a common profit measure that strips out interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items – came in at €104.3 million. That still shows underlying profitability, but it was below last year’s €112.0 million.

Free cash flow excluding exceptional items fell to €45.3 million from €68.8 million. After exceptional cash costs of €20.8 million, reported free cash flow was €24.5 million.

Net debt excluding leases rose to €121.4 million from €80.9 million, and leverage increased to 1.6x from 0.9x. That is not a crisis number, and the group says it has €326.5 million of liquidity with committed bank facilities extending to 2030, but the direction of travel is clearly negative.

The dividend also reflects that caution. The proposed final dividend is 3.67 cent per share, down from 4.13 cent, making the full-year dividend 5.75 cent per share.

One extra wrinkle here is distributable reserves. The company says these were €14.4 million at 28 February 2026, and it plans a capital reduction of around €1 billion of share premium to improve this. That sounds technical, but the message is simple – C&C wants more flexibility to keep paying shareholders.

Exceptional charges are still muddying the picture for C&C shareholders

The gap between adjusted and statutory numbers is big. Profit before tax before exceptional items was €49.8 million, but statutory profit before tax was just €9.1 million. Basic EPS dropped to 0.9 cent from 3.5 cent.

The reason is €40.7 million of exceptional charges before tax. These included €23.4 million of restructuring costs, €7.3 million linked to brand dispense assets, and a €15.6 million impairment of cider brands, partly offset by a €7.2 million exceptional property, plant and machinery revaluation credit.

This is where investors need to stay sharp. Management is right to separate out one-off items if they truly are one-offs. But C&C had €36.3 million of exceptional charges in FY2025 and €40.7 million in FY2026, so there is a fair question over when “exceptional” starts to look a bit too regular.

C&C strategy shift in 2026: why ditching “One C&C” could be the right move

The strategic update is arguably the most important part of this RNS. C&C is moving away from the previous “One C&C” strategy and towards two distinct operating models – C&C Brands and Matthew Clark Bibendum.

• C&C Brands – focused on growth, innovation and brand building.
• Matthew Clark Bibendum – focused on margin recovery, cost discipline, service and pricing.

I think that is the right call. Trying to manage a branded drinks business and a big distribution business as if they are basically the same thing rarely ends well. They have different economics, different margin profiles and different priorities.

The branded side also has a few useful growth levers. C&C launched Tennent’s Bavarian Pilsner, continued to back Magners, grew Menabrea volumes by 4%, expanded Outcider, and acquired the Innis & Gunn brand for €5.1 million after the year end on 6 March 2026.

What C&C Group FY2026 results mean for retail investors now

This was not a pretty set of headline results, and there is no point dressing that up. Revenue fell, Distribution struggled, debt rose, free cash flow weakened and the dividend was cut.

But there is also a decent investment case trying to emerge here. The branded business is performing well, market-leading names like Tennent’s and Bulmers are still strong, and the strategy now looks more realistic than it did before.

So my view is this: the short-term picture is mixed to weak, but the strategic direction makes more sense than the old one. If management can genuinely improve margins in MCB while keeping the brands growing, these FY2026 results could end up looking like a reset year rather than the start of a deeper slide.

For now, the summer trading period matters a lot. Management says trading since the year end has been in line with expectations and it expects to meet full-year financial objectives. That is encouraging, but after two years of hefty exceptional charges and softer delivery, investors will probably want proof rather than promises.