Plastics packaging specialist Bowler Metcalf (Bowcalf) served up a dose of good news to shareholders on its investment in struggling soft-drink bottler SoftBev at its annual general meeting on Wednesday. Bowcalf CEO Friedel Sass said SoftBev, which bottles brands such as Jive, Pepsi and energy drink Reboost, traded ahead of budget in the first four months of the new financial year. He said that not only was the aggressive budget exceeded at turnover level, but SoftBev also broke even in October. "These are the first signs that we have turned the corner." There has been talk of Bowcalf wanting to sell its stake in SoftBev so that management can focus on guiding the perennially profitable plastics packaging operations through a highly competitive trading environment. It seems, though, that Bowcalf wants to restore profitability at SoftBev before any decisions are taken on potential offers. Sass confirmed that Bowcalf had been inundated with offers to buy SoftBev. "But we need to retur...
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