British soft drinks producer Britvic remains optimistic of Q3 results, despite a CO2 shortage in the UK holding the company back.

The company saw a 3.4% increase to £366.9m in revenue, compared to last year’s 4.5% growth, while revenue excluding the soft drinks industry levy declined by 0.6%.

Britvic, which makes Fruit Shoot, Tango, Fruitshoot and J2O, temporarily reduced its marketing activity following major disruptions at CO2 factories, which led to other drinks companies pausing production.

The beverages producer decided to focus on its sugar-free and non-carbonated drinks instead.

Britvic CEO Simon Litherland said: “Britvic has delivered a strong underlying performance in the third quarter, through continuing outstanding execution of no sugar carbonates and substantial growth from our stills brands. Whilst the industry-wide shortage of carbon dioxide held back our ability to fully capitalise on the exceptional weather in GB and Ireland, we leveraged the breadth and strength of our portfolio to moderate the impact. Consequently, we remain confident of achieving market expectations for the full year.”

Britvic’s still drinks portfolio saw a ‘particularly strong’ revenue growth of 11.9%. Ireland revenue in particular grew by 11.3%, benefitting from the hot weather while revenue in Brazil also increased by 10.2% against a soft comparative the year before.

France revenue saw a 15% decline due to bad weather. The total soft drinks market volume decreased by more than 14% and the syrups market volume saw a decline of nearly 23%.

The drinks producer claims that the combination of the national heatwave and CO2 shortage has made it hard to separate the effect of the levy, however it expects a clearer view by the end of 2018.

The volume of fizzy drinks sold in Britain declined by 8.7% this quarter, with non-carbonated drinks rising by 3.5%. Britvic now plans to re-establish its carbonated stock levels and start promoting again.