The curse of Magners Irish cider has hit Britvic.

Profits at the soft drinks group have been held back this year after earnings were wiped out at its Irish operations, which were bought two years ago from Irish group C&C.

C&C's profits have cratered after the collapse in popularity of its Magners brand.

Britvic, which distributes Pepsi in the UK and produces Tango, Robinsons, J20 and Fruit Shoot, today reported a better-than-expected 16% jump in profits to £20 million in the half year to 12 April. That sent the shares up 39p to 307 ¾p.

The figures would have been much better but for a collapse in its Irish operations, which barely broke even against prior comparable profits of £4.3 million.

“The Irish economy has fallen off a cliff and these figures reflect that challenged market,” said chief executive Paul Moody.

“It was strategically the right acquisition and we are holding or gaining market share.”

Britvic says it is not being hit by the downtrading in supermarkets, where consumers have been avoiding more-expensive brands.

“The relative price gap between branded and non-branded soft drinks is very narrow,” Moody said.

The interim dividend is up 8% to 4.1p.