A baking hot Wimbledon and the success of this summer's 20/20 cricket tournament helped put the fizz into soft drinks group Britvic.

The outfit behind Robinson's and Tango issued a profits upgrade today on the back of some strong trading — a rare event for any company since the recession started last year.

Britvic bought its third-quarter trading update forward by two weeks to update investors on the good news.

Sales for the 12 weeks to 5 July are up 6% to £249 million, which means the company now expects to beat City profit forecasts for the full year of around £103 million.

The numbers may be eyed closely by top brass at Diageo, the alcoholic drinks giant rumoured to be looking at a takeover bid.

Britvic shares enjoyed a bounce last week on talk in dealing rooms that the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness is casting its eye over the group.

Today Britvic shares popped again, up 12 1/2p to 309 1/2p.

Chief executive Paul Moody was tight-lipped on the bid gossip today, preferring to focus on the “great brand activity” that has helped sales.

He said Pepsi's sponsorship of 20/20 and Robinson's usual presence at Wimbledon were partly behind recent successes.

Britvic has the license to brew and sell the Pepsi and 7UP brands in the UK and Ireland.

The figures show that the pub market remains tough. Sales in licensed premises are down 3.1%.

However, Moody says the “top-end pub operators” — he cited Marston's as an example — are “doing pretty well”.

Trading in Ireland remains challenging, something Britvic blames on “macro-economic conditions”.

Altium Securities this morning increased its profit forecast for Britvic by 13% to £110 million. The broker has upped its target for the shares to 350p.