THE company behind Robinsons cordial says it is gearing up for significant US success after securing a major soft drink deal.

Bosses at Britvic say they have agreed a contract with PepsiCo Americas Beverages for a 15-year bottling extension to continue manufacturing and distributing its products across the US.

It says the deal means its Fruit Shoot drink, aimed primarily at children, will be available in 41 US states next year.

The firm revealed the deal after unveiling its full-year financial results for the 52 weeks to September 29.

It said full-year revenue growth had increased 4.4 per cent to £1.3bn, with earnings growing 18.4 per cent to £137.9m.

Britvic is also behind brands such as Pepsi, Tango, J2O and sports drink Gatorade, made famous by Adam Sandler in US comedy film, The Waterboy.

In the summer, it cheered Andy Murray to victory at Wimbledon by modifying its Robinsons branding for a day to support the Scot.

Simon Litherland, Britvic chief executive, said trading was expected to remain tough next year, but said its US deal, coupled with debt reduction, meant the firm was on the right path for success.

He said: “We have delivered a strong financial performance in a year of significant change for our business.

“We have grown revenue and price in all of our business units and gained market value share, resulting in operating profit growth in excess of 18 per cent.

“We have also reduced debt by about ten per cent and remain on-track to deliver £30m per annum of cost savings from 2016.

“The announcement of a new agreement with PepsiCo Americas Beverages for significant additional expansion in the US is further evidence of the growth opportunities that exist for our brands internationally.

“While we anticipate the consumer environment will remain challenging in 2014, trading in the new financial year is slightly ahead of a strong first quarter performance last year.”