Shares in Britvic were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the soft drink manufacturer reported a rise in revenue in its first quarter trading period.

The group said that its total revenue was up 20 per cent in the period to £288.2 million in the period.

In Great Britain Britvic saw its sales increase 0.8 per cent to £191.7 million thanks to strong sales of carbonated drinks offsetting a decline in still drinks.

In Ireland Britvic sales declined 8.4 per cent to £42.1 million, while sales in the group's newly acquired French business were £48.6 million. In other international markets Britvic sales increased 41.5 per cent to £5.8 million.

Gerald Corbett, Chairman of Britvic, said, "Whilst we expect the consumer and cost environment to remain challenging, we are confident in our ability to compete strongly in the markets in which we operate. The GB strategic drivers of market growth, innovation, ARP development and enhanced distribution look set to continue, and our new Irish go-to-market structure will allow us to address our customers' needs more effectively. Our extensive plans for Britvic France are being successfully executed in-country, and Britvic International is again making significant progress around the world.

"As highlighted at the 2010 preliminary results, significant commodity inflation in juice and sugar will have a disproportionate impact on Britvic France this year. However, our 2011 commodity inflation guidance remains unchanged at 5-6%, and we expect to recover these additional costs through the balance of the year. As we enter the second quarter we anticipate an improvement in our performance, and therefore remain confident about the outcome for the full year as we continue to execute our organic and international strategies."

By 09:30 shares in Britvic were up 3.83 per cent on the FTSE 250 to 466.00 pence per share.