BALLYMENA soft drinks manufacturer Norbev lost some of its fizz in the last trading year as its sales declined and it swung from a small profits to a £1.6 million loss.
Latest figures filed at Companies House show turnover in the 2019 calendar year fell back from £21.9 million to £20.3 million.
And from a profit of £8,335 in 2018, Norbev swung to a loss of £1.64 million, while its assets dipped from £5.34m to £3.69m.
The firm's payroll shrunk too, with worker numbers cut from 144 to 133, with the wages bill in turn reducing slightly to £4.3m.
Norbev was set up a century ago by the grandfather of current owner James Harkness as Braid Mineral Water, initially selling lemonade from a handcart.
The company blends and bottles drinks for customers ranging from Coca-Cola to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which also makes Lucozade, and it exports to the Republic and the Netherlands as well as to America.
Meanwhile the holding company for a number of firms involved in Northern Ireland's drinks trade, Golf Holdings, has seen profits jump more than 60 per cent.
The company, which owns Winemark and a number of other hospitality subsidiaries, grew operating profits to £948,700 in 2019 against £561,500 a year earlier.
The firm, run by the Hunt family, has 52 employees, with a wages bill of nearly £4.4m. The salary package for its highest paid director was £1,384,602.
