C&G said it was “pleased” with its results in Scotland, which had been impacted by the minimum unit pricing (MUP) changes.

It said Tennent’s volumes “remained resilient” in the unaudited update for the six months ended August 31 2019.

The Herald reported that volumes for Tennent’s Lager in Scotland were down 4.9% but net revenues had increased by 2.5% “as a result of optimising pricing yields as well as a more favourable volume mix”.

This included the sale of Tennent’s Lager in Scotland through Mattew Clark.

Net Great Britain revenues were €874.9m, an increase of 13.5%.

Jonny Catto of C&C, said: “We are pleased with the progress in the first six months. It has provided momentum towards our full-year targets. In Scotland, Tennent’s performed well, especially against the comparatives of last year, and revenue was slightly up.

“There was also a bit distortion with MUP. There was an extra two months of minimum unit pricing last year so we are still having the effects of that, so we are pleased wuth Tennent’s.”

Stephen Glancy, C&C Group chief executive, said: “last year was exceptional with a World Cup and a hot summer boosting demand. Despite challenging year-on-year comparatives we have delivered a resilient revenue performance in our core brands.

“Despite the economic uncertainties linked to macro and political issues, current trading is in line with expectations. Accordingly, we remain on track to deliver double-digit EPS (earnings per share) growth in 2020 and on our steady state forward earnings targets.

“We have significant balance sheet strength to support our targeted growth range.”