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The drinks firm behind Magners cider and Tennent’s lager has warned over profits after cautious activity from customers around the autumn budget dented sales.

Shares in London-listed C&C Group dropped by as much as a tenth on Friday morning as a result.

The company said overall trading towards the end of its financial year has been “below the board’s expectations”.

It revealed downbeat trading in November and early December as it blamed “weak consumer confidence associated with the November UK budget”.

C&C said this resulted in weaker-than-expected demand in hospitality businesses, such as pubs and bars.

The company was also knocked by a shift in the products customers bought, as they moved away from wine and spirits towards beer.

It added that trading around the key fortnight around Christmas and New Year was within expectations but pointed towards further weakness this month.

The company said: “In January to date we have seen continued softness of consumer demand in the market and anticipate that this will continue for the balance of the current financial year.”

It therefore expects to deliver an adjusted operating profit of between 70 million and 73 million euros, highlighting lower profits in its distribution arm.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “The hospitality sector has been blamed for the latest setback.

“Drinkers aren’t spending enough in general, and when they are, they’re choosing beer over higher margin wine and spirits.

“Such a backdrop is unhelpful, yet C&C is pulling a few levers internally to try and reshape its business.

“It’s simply a waiting game to see how long a proper turnaround might take.”