Price wars make drinks maker Britvic wary on 2015

* CEO sees soft drink category flat to slightly down in 2015

* Says company's revenue growth will be "fairly subdued"

* Full-year EBIT comes in ahead of expectations (Adds comments from CEO; changes headline)

By Martinne Geller

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - British soft drinks firm Britvic said on Wednesday that fierce competition between retailers at home in the coming year would likely put pressure on prices and weigh on sales growth.

The Robinsons squash maker, whose main markets are Britain, Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) and France, said operating profit should rise next year from the 158.1 million pounds ($248.4 million) earned in the 12 months to Sept. 28, but cost savings would be the main driver.

"From a revenue perspective, we do see a relatively flat to slightly declining category," Chief Executive Simon Litherland told Reuters, speaking about the overall soft drinks market, which has been hurt by changing consumer tastes and budgets.

Litherland said competition between Britain's grocers would weigh on prices: "We expect fairly subdued revenue growth for the year."

While Britvic's full-year operating profit, or earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), was up 17.6 percent and ahead of its expected range of 148 million to 156 million, sales slipped 4 percent in its fourth quarter, a decline it put down to poor summer weather.

For the full year, sales rose 2.4 percent to 1.34 billion pounds, with growth in both volume and prices.

Shares (Frankfurt: DI6.F - news) in Britvic (Other OTC: BTVCF - news) fell 3 percent on Wednesday, underperforming the FTSE index of 100 shares and its peers.

Still, Nomura analysts said Britvic's pipeline of new products, if successful, could make the guidance look conservative.

For the new financial year, Britvic expects operating profit in the range of 164 million to 173 million pounds, again underpinned by cost savings.

The company, which makes and sells PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - news) brands such as Pepsi and 7UP in Britain, said cost savings came in 2 million pounds above 2014 targets and it was on track to deliver cumulative savings of 25 million in its 2015 financial year.

Britvic rejected a merger proposal from smaller rival AG Barr in July 2013 in favour of a cost-cutting drive aimed at funding expansion.

The group has since started selling its Fruit Shoot children's drink across the United States, Spain and India.

Following a roll-out of it single-serve packages, it plans to launch multipacks of Fruit Shoot in the United States in the second half of 2015, getting into the much bigger market for large packages to take home.

Britvic also said it plans to expand its capacity, including spending 25 million pounds on a new high-speed plastic bottle line and warehousing.

(1 US dollar = 0.6365 British pound) (Editing by David Clarke)