C&C Group has seen both sales and profits lift for the 12 months to the end of February.

The company said today that full-year 23 sales rose 18.4%, to €1.69 billion, while operating profit was up 75.6% to €84 million.

The company flagged a challenging second half of the year, citing the cost of living crisis and strikes, as well as difficulties with its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Late last week, the company said CEO David Forde had stepped down. The news came as the Magners and Tennent’s owner announced it had “encountered significant challenges” with the implementation of the ERP system upgrade in the Matthew Clark and Bibendum business unit.

“C&C currently expects a one-off impact of c.€25 million associated with ERP system disruption in FY2024,” the company said on Friday.

Looking more closely at brand performance in FY23, C&C said market share for Tennent’s and Bulmers improved year-on-year, while Magners is “progressing in the off-trade, recording its highest off-trade share of the cider category in 3 years”.

Going forward, C&C said macroeconomic conditions would continue to impact the trading environment, particularly in the UK.

Patrick McMahon, who was CFO and has now stepped into the CEO role, said: “Set against a challenging backdrop in FY2023, C&C delivered an improved performance against all financial measures. Increased balance sheet strength and inherently strong free cash flow characteristics have enabled C&C to return capital to shareholders through the re-instatement of dividends.”